Waking The Demon :: Sasuke Uchiha ::
by DemonWolf11
Summary: This is my first story written on here,so I'm sorry if you do not like it-reviews would help a lot, especially constructive ones. Akki is in ruins inside, no matter how much she covers it up. Will it be her best friends to help her out or someone else?
1. Chapter 1

Waking The Demon; Sasuke Uchiha Story

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto Characters. The only characters I own are Akki and Aiku**

~Things you'll need to know before you read~

1. This story takes place in the beginning of Naruto.

2. I'm sorry if the dialogue isnt perfect. Im changing it up a bit so that Akki's personality can fit. And Akki's not going to say something that Sakura would originally say,

Akki's clan was killed; the only survivors were Akki Akita and her brother, Aiku Akita.

3. Akki's clan was killed; the only survivors were Akki Akita and Aiku Akita.

4. Almost everyone believes that the siblings murdered their own village.

5. Akki is 12; her brother is 17.

6. Akki and Aiku started training at an early age, giving them an advantage against other people their age.

7. Akki is a genin, Aiku is a chuunin.

8. Akki is an avenger, even though Aiku encourages her to forget about it.

9. Shikamaru Nara and Naruto Uzumaki are her best friends. Shikamaru for no obvious reason but Naruto because he reminds her of how she, herself used to be.

10. Is just like Naruto, besides personality and gender. She has the same deep aqua blue eyes that change color and her hair is blonde, only not as yellow-ish as Naruto's is, and her hair is streaked with brunette. She, too, has a demon spirit sealed inside of her, except it's not one of the tailed demons, although it is just as powerful, if not more. The demon is a giant wolf called Okuri, who killed/injured half of several villages. Akki and Okuri work as one; and Okuri is not nearly as evil as she is said to be.

11. It seems as if Akki isnt affected at all by her villages massacre. It does, she just hides all of her emotions.

*Third Person's POV*

A continuous thudding of bare feet against the ground could be heard in the dead silence of the night. It was an eerie silence; no sound could be heard, not even the occasional scuffling of an animal trying to play it safe by lurking in the night or even the wind rustling the leaves of the trees surrounding them. Only the dull thudding and fast, uneven breathing. It was like a horror movie, the part where the victim is attempting to escape his or her doom. And to the people who were running, it _was _a horror movie.

"Keep moving," A voice commanded. The voice was soft and gentle; so caring, yet so dull. So full of hatred and determination, but so exhausted. There was no answer immediately from the boy's companion, his sister. He hated seeing her so angry.. so.. depressed. Someone so young- no, no one should have to watch their family, friends, rivals, enemies, everyone, be brutally murdered. No one should have to watch their life fall right before their eyes, and be too helpless to support it.

"I _am,"_ A second voice answered. The voice, it was empty and filled with pain, along with too many emotions to describe. Anger for being so helpless; sorrow for her loss; determination to find the people who killed off her clan and avenge their deaths; hate for the people who killed her friends and family; and even slight fear for her life. But then again, who _wouldnt _be scared after witnessing a massacre.

The girl's brother looked at his sister sympathetically, detecting her fear. As expected, he offered his sympathy. He put a hand on her shoulder as he caught up to her, to stop her from running. "Akki," He mumbled. "You'll be okay. Nothing will happen to you, I swear. I'll protect you with my life, as long as I can." The boy promised. The girl, Akki, knew that her brother never broke his promise, and gladly accepted his sympathetic ways, as he hugged her.

"Aiku," Akki looked up at her brother. "Thank you. For everything."

Chapter One

The two siblings now stood at the gate of Konoha, after the roughly 2 hour trek to get there. It was roughly 7:00 am by now, and already people were scurrying around, awake. The two had just been stopped at the gates into the village by the two guards. But it was no surprise to the siblings; both of them were covered in blood and weapon clad.

"Who are you?" The first guard demanded, standing up and blocking the way into the village, the second one hurrying to do the same.

"We-" Aiku started, only to be cut off by Akki.

"Why do you need to know?" Akki growled. Who were they to be able to question them?

The two ninja were stunned into silence. Who was she to talk to them, two jounin, like that, when she was probably just out of the academy- if that? Akki received a scolding glare from Aiku; though he was thoroughly worried for her. What had happened to that sweet little angel who was always happy, and ready to please? She used to be the normal happy, respectful girl, with the exception of being more skilled than others her age.

Looking at Akki, Aiku realized that Okuri was present. Around her pupil, it was dark navy, a color close to black, the color of Okuri's eyes.. when she isnt angry. When Okuri gets angry and is present, Akki's eyes turn blood red, the color of an angry Okuri's eyes. Right now, it seemed that Okuri was calm and at peace. That much was good. But still, it wouldnt matter if Okuri was mad, Akki was surprisingly skillful at controlling the spirit, chakra and strength of Okuri. Only when Akki got extremely angry, would she take the chakra that Okuri is always happy to lend to her. It was extremely rare to see when Okuri completely took over Akki's body, and that was only when Akki was on the verge of life or death. When that happens, or even when Akki is extremely angry or determined, it is easy to tell. Even the ordinary human eye can see the chakra, the color of fire, surrounding and protecting Akki's body, making her invincible. The chakra forms the shape of the wolf.

"Please excuse my sister," Aiku apologized. "She has an acceptable reason to be acting this way. However, we need to speak with your Hokage, as soon as possible." Aiku declared. He dared not to mention the sudden murder of the village, afraid that it would send Akki over the edge, making her embrace the wolf's chakra and strength, and making her lose control, possible ending with Akki going on a killing spree. Aiku had heard of the nine-tailed fox, heard that he lived in this village, sealed inside a boy around Akki's age. But Aiku knew that the nine-tailed fox could not stop the wolf. After all, Okuri was the strongest demon any ninja had come upon.

"Very well. I will take you to the Hokage," The first one, who Akki would later find out was Genma, declared.

*Akki's POV*

I could feel Okuri's presence nudging at my mind gently, encouragingly, and my face became solemn as I allowed her to take over a small portion of my mind. Okuri and I worked well together; together, we were nearly unbeatable. If I had trouble with something, then she excels at it. If she had trouble with anything, then I was good at it. She was my closest friend, my family. No one understood me like she did. I understood her, too. She could talk to me, just like a normal human could talk to me.

Looking up, I realized that Aiku and the guard were already walking. I ran after them, looking around. From what I understood, if Hokage agrees, this would be our new home. People stared at Aiku and I, both in fear and in wonder, as I glared at them. I couldnt do anything else about it, however, if they made one wrong move..

"Akki," Aiku's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. From the scolding look on his face, he knew what I had been thinking about. _Oops. _ I didnt answer him; right now, I honestly didnt feel like getting yelled at.

"Here we are," announced Genma. "Stay here. I'll alert the Hokage." Genma stated, before disappearing into some double doors, after knocking of course. A few minutes later, which seemed like hours, the Hokage announced for us to come in.

"Sit down," The old man encouraged; the man who I assumed was Hokage. We both did as we were told, as expected. "Now, care to explain why you are in my office, covered in blood, so early in the morning?" He asked, smiling kindly.

"Of course, sir." Aiku confided politely. "It is heard to tell, yes, but our village was attacked and massacred early this morning, around 2:00 am. We were the only survivors, my sister and I. We are in need of a new home."

Sheer pain and terror etched onto my face as I remembered what happened only hours ago. My eyes became dark, Okuri's doing. Okuri was fuming inside. She wanted to find the people who killed our village and avenge their deaths just as much as I did.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Of course you can stay here. Its a good thing we have one apartment open, is that okay? Anyways, whats your names? And how did you two survive?"

"I'm Akki." I introduced. "And this is my older brother, Aiku." I paused. "How we lived? Well, that's easy.. that is, if you know me." Once again, I paused. "I have a demon spirit in me. Okuri, the wolf. She protected us. I couldnt save the rest of my clan, they were all dead by the time I became consious." I admitted. The truth was, I had passed out the night before after too much endurance training with Okuri.

Hokage gasped in surprise. "Ahhh. Okuri, the wolf. I do not see how such a thing could live on in such a sweet young girl like you." He said sincerely. My eyes immediately began to glow a bit red. No one insults my friends without getting hurt.

He just made a _**huge **_mistake, insulting Okuri like that.


	2. Chapter 2

Waking the Demon

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters. The only characters I own are Akki, Aiku, Katsuo, and Okuri.**

I stood up quickly, the chair crashing to the ground behind me. "You're wrong!" I yelled. "Why do you and everyone else assume things without knowing anything about it? Why? Okuri saved my life! She's my friend! My family! She's my life! Without her, I would be dead; gone!" I fumed, my eyes beginning to turn a tint of red. Insulting or hurting my friends or family was like making a death wish. It doesn't matter who it is who is insulting them, they will pay.

The Hokage was just as stunned as the two jounin, if not more so. After all, I could be absolutely terrifying when I got mad, and before, I wasn't even mad when I spoke to the Junín. The Hokage leaned back, away from his desk, surprise evident in his eyes. "I-! " Lord Hokage started, only to be cut off by Aiku, who apologized profusely.

"Akki, sit down _now!"_ He fumed, and I turned my head towards him. He could immediately tell why the Hokage was a bit stunned. My irises were pure black, tinted a bit with red. He was not scared, or even surprised for that matter- he was the only one who actually ever accepted me. No matter, it was rare to see me this angry- I only got this mad when my friends or family were insulted, and that was only twice before. Once, being when my second best friend was getting bullied and attacked because he talked to me and the other when Aiku came back from a mission, half-dead.

"Excuse her, Lord Hokage," He paused to bow his head in apology. "I think it would be best if she were able to get some fresh air." Even before Aiku could finish his request, I had disappeared from the room, and out of the building. I didn't have time to deal with snobby old men like him—I should be training, avenging my clan. After all, I did know who killed them all, and I was definitely one to know just how skilled _he_ was. _He_ was my best friend, also the pride and joy of the clan—of the village even, known as Katsuo.

I _had_ to kill him, _had _to avenge my clan. I _needed _to get stronger, I know I'm too weak to win a fight against him, even if I was the second most skilled of the clan. Even with Okuri, I knew I wouldn't be able to win. Well, not exactly. I probably could kill him, fueled by my rage and hatred, if only he wasn't my best friend, the one who I had known since I was in diapers. I wasn't either mentally or emotionally strong enough yet. And neither was Okuri, _he _had been a comrade, and normally, in wolf packs, they don't 'betray' each other. But would it really be betraying? No, he betrayed his whole clan first... it wouldn't matter if I betrayed just him, would it? But no matter, Okuri had been just attached to _him _as I had. Even now, my heart clenched at the thought of killing my long time best friend.

'I shouldn't think like this.' I thought to myself. 'It'll only make me depressed.' My mind reminded me. 'No. I _will_ get strong enough—stronger than _him. _I_ will _defeat_ him. _I_ will _avenge my clan_.__' _I decided determinedly.

A loud, obnoxiously annoying voice brought me out of my negative thoughts. "Hey! Watch where you're going, would you?" Someone snapped as I felt my shoulder brush against something, or rather someone. I was already mad, if she couldn't tell already—it wasn't a good idea to mess with me. I whirled around, coming face-to-face with a girl who seemed around my age with platinum blonde hair and aqua blue-green eyes. She reminded me of the fan girls who stalked Katsuo back in my old village.

'Great.' I thought sarcastically, my eyes already annoyed. 'I thought I left behind people like her when I left the village.' She must have noticed the flames burning in my eyes, and that my clothes were covered in dried blood, for she involuntarily took a step back. I smirked at her, but before I got a chance to snap at her, someone interrupted.

"Lay off, Ino." A guy, around our age drawled. "She's new, if you haven't noticed." His voice quieted to a mutter, and without Okuri's hearing and other senses, I wouldn't have been able to hear it. "She's so troublesome." I smirked a bit at his comment—already I knew I could get along with him okay. He had medium length black hair and dark, black eyes.

"Oh!" She laughed. "I'm so sorry. I'm Ino and this is Shikamaru. Who are you?" She blinked, staring straight at me.

"And why should I tell you?" I demanded—I wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone at the moment and my voice showed no emotion or feelings. I must have seemed like a zombie—emotionless, coated in blood and black irises.

"Do I have to give a reason?" She challenged, grinning smugly. Of course she did; I wasn't going to let someone yell at me and demand something, only suddenly she becomes my friend.

"Look, I don't have the patience to deal with someone like you. So run off, be a good girl, and stay out of my way, like the helpless child you are." I finally snapped, fuming. I, for one, did not have the patience to sit still arguing for long, unless you wanted it to become physical. I continued to glare at the blonde haired girl, snapping them closed then back open as I felt the warmth as my eyes tinted red. She was lucky she didn't know that there was a demon sealed inside of me—if she did, she would have ran off screaming like the crybaby she is, a long time ago.

I just realized Shikamaru, the boy with dark hair was still leaning against the wall, staring up at the clouds, as he stepped in. "Ino, don't you have work to get to?" I smiled in relief as she began to walk in the direction I just came; I really didn't want to get in a fight right after I got here. Realizing the boy hadn't left, I turned towards him, blinking confusedly. Most people don't want to be seen around me, even if they were fighting with me—considering what my old clan whispered 'behind my back', I was lower than scum, and not worth getting angry over, much less spending valuable time with.

Finally, Shikamaru began talking. "I'm Shikamaru." He muttered out again. Too bad I already knew that; Ino already told me. But it couldn't hurt to be nice to him. I decided to answer him; after all, he probably did just keep me from turning demon and having everyone hate me again.

"Akki. My name's Akki. I just came here with my brother, Ai-." I got cut off... once again. At the very sound of the voice, I knew instantly it was my brother; anyways, no one other than Akki, Lord Hokage and Shikamaru knew my name here in this village.

"Akki! Akki!" There goes my mystery—I sighed.

"Brother." I finished my previous sentence, adding a sigh for good measures, before waving my brother over. "Shika—I can call you that, right?—this is my troublesome brother, Aiku." I pause, gesturing my hand towards my brother who just arrived next to us. "Aiku, this is my new, eh, friend, Shikamaru." It felt weird to associate 'friend' and 'my' together in one sentence, which didn't include 'betrayal', 'betrayed', 'joke', or 'only', or generally just any other word meaning the same as the words listed.

Aiku, being the childish person he is, he waved to Shika wildly. "Hi, Shikamaru, anyways, Akki, Lord Hokage apologizes and wants you to go to the academy. They were just about to decide teams for genin and they need to know if you can pass." My jaw dropped open. They just made them genin? In my old clan, they made us genin at—what?—six or seven? I was 12 now! Of course I could pass. "Good luck, but then again, I know you can. Our apartment is... over there." He pointed a pasty white finger in a direction before blurting out the room number and adding, "I have to go see the apartment now—do you think you can find the academy by yourself?"

Just as I was about to snap at him about how I wasn't 5 years old anymore, Shikamaru stepped in. "I'll take her." Aiku nodded at him great fully before jogging off, almost like he was happy to leave. Well, I didn't blame him. He was covered in more blood than I was, and probably in double amount of pain, seeing as he had been outside, attempting to protect everyone else, while I was sleeping, during the massacre. I only had a few injuries, and they only stung a bit now, thanks to Okuri. I followed my new and only friend, to wherever he was leading me.

"So, Shika, where exactly is this academy, of yours?" I drawled, attempting to start a conversation. He didn't seem like the person to talk much; he seemed to like thinking instead.

"Troublesome girl—follow me." He walked calmly through the streets, hands in his pockets, me walking at his heels, my arms crossed over my chest, and staring up at the sky, ignoring the curious looks and accusing stares. "Here it is, you need to go to room 300, right? Come on." He led me into a semi-big building, once again, and led me to a room, labeled, _**'Room 300'**_. "I'll stay out here, I'm sure you'llwant help finding your apartment after this." I wasn't sure if he was just teasing or not, but he didn't show any signs of leaving, as he leaned up against the wall, grumbling crossly. A light, unintentional smile graced my lips and I walked into the room.

There were two people inside, Lord Hokage and an academy teacher, who I learned was named 'Iruka-sensei'. They calmly asked me to perform Kage no bunshin, also known as the shadow clone jutsu. I blinked at them in surprise. They seriously expected me to make a Kage no Bunshin, a shadow clone, as a way to pass? This was easier than I thought it would be. I formed the hand signs that had been burned into my head, and kept my face expressionless as 3 exact copies of myself appeared, all holding their hands like mine. Lord Hokage looked... well, his face was expressionless, besides a slim slither of pride ran across his face, while Iruka looked pleased. "Good job, Akki, you pass. Come back to Room 22 tomorrow morning for class, and we'll tell you and the others what team you're on." Iruka-sensei praised. I smiled; he was nice, definitely someone I wouldn't mind having to live around. He seemed fond of me, too, as he handed me a headband. I walked from the room, clutching the thin band, and seeing Shika sitting down; his back leaned against the wall. "I passed." I said happily, holding up the fabric.. He got up, and we began walking, after he offered a 'congratulations'. Suddenly, a thought hit me. "Hey, Shika, doesn't your name mean 'deer' or something of that sort? You don't act too much like a deer, in my opinion." I muttered to him thoughtfully.

His answer wasn't what I expected. I was just waiting for a simple 'Yes' or 'No'. Instead, he shot back, "Doesn't your name mean Demon? You don't act like a demon, in my opinion." He mocked. However, I quickly thought up a response.

"So you haven't figured it out yet then, Mr. Wise Guy? Maybe you're not as smart as I thought. Eh, you'll figure it out soon—if you don't, I'll tell you." I decided, mainly talking to myself.

"I need to get cleaned up," I mumbled. "But in order to do that, I need clothes. So I need to find my-." I was in the middle of rambling when Shika cut in.

"So troublesome—why would I wait there if I wasn't going to walk you back to your apartment, hmm? You think I want to just waste away my day, staying at the academy all day?" He asked, almost exasperated. "Mother is already going to nag me enough. Hurry up." He declared, grabbing my wrist and dragging me behind him, muttering 'Apartment number 2306' over and over. I could hardly hear the teasing tone in his voice, but I knew it was there, and a small smile crept onto my face. My muscles ached; I'd run around too much today, I was stressed. I really couldn't wait to soak my muscles in the Hot Spring.

_**- Tomorrow Morning - 7:30 A.M –**_

I was currently sitting in the classroom, all alone, besides a few nerdy kids sitting in the front, studying. Apparently, from what I heard from Aiku, class started at 8:30. The door squeaked open then clicked as it shut. I looked up half heartedly to see a boy with black hair, tinted blue and raven eyes. To me, he seemed like one of those conceited jerks who had girls fawning over him- to that, I raised an eyebrow. I would never have expected that he would become one of my closest friends.

I stared at him dully, almost annoyed, as he plopped down on the right of me. I got annoyed as I felt him sending me glances, seemingly waiting for something. Finally, I snapped. "Why do you keep glaring at me like that?" So he was one of those people who judge at someone's appearance?

"What?" He seemed thoroughly confused for a moment. "You aren't going to attack me like any of those other girls... Sakura... Ino… not to mention the other girls… except Hinata?" I almost laughed. I certainly wasn't like any girls here, from what I could tell so far. The only girl who might be even the slightest slimmer like me was, so far, this Hinata girl. Seeing the menacing look in my eyes, he gave a confused look, before apologizing. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha." I was waiting for him to make another comment, like 'Certainly, you've heard of me, right?', but he never did.

"Akki Akita." I mumbled quietly. At least he hadn't deliberately tried to start a fight with me, like that Ino girl. He seemed nice enough for at least company.

"So you're the girl with the ten-tailed wolf demon, right? Okuri was her name, wasn't it?" While we had been talking, I hadn't even noticed everyone filing into the room, even when Shikamaru sat down to my left. To Sasuke's right was a girl with blinding pink hair, and next to her was a boy with bright blonde hair and big blue eyes… he reminded me of myself… how I used to be. I turned to Shikamaru as Sasuke looked towards the front of the room.

"Hey, Shika, did I say you could sit here?" I teased, laughing a bit and looking at him through the corner of my eye. He decided to play along.

"Did I say I cared what you decided?" I grinned at him, before zoning out, but not before I caught the small smile he sent my way.

Iruka-sensei began calling out groups. I didn't pay attention, until I heard Shika's name, wandering if we were in the same group. "Team 10: Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, Chouji Akimichi." I looked at Shika, smiling sadly, wandering if he liked his team. Surprisingly, he looked slightly happy- it was hard to read him.

"Team 7:" Iruka continued. "Naruto Uzumaki, Akki Akita, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno." I briefly wandered if they meant to put four people on our team. Oh well. My eyes shifted towards Sasuke, who seemed slightly relieved, to which I raised an eyebrow.

"You're the only person in this class I can actually understand and put up with." Apparently he had heard that my clan was wiped out. Instead of staying on topic, I decided to find out who Sakura and Naruto were.

"Who were the Uzumaki and Haruno kids?" I wanted to know.

"Naruto Uzumaki, he's the hyper head, most surprising ninja in the village." He paused, before continuing. "He almost failed. And he has the nine-tailed fox inside of him." I slightly tensed. I wasn't sure how Okuri would manage always having to be around another demon, nearly as powerful as her. I noticed Sasuke sending a glare at Naruto, who gladly returned it.

"And Sakura.. Who is she?" I reminded, jerking him out of his staring contest with the blonde, Naruto Uzumaki.

"Sakura… there isn't much to say about her," He slightly nudged his head to his right. So the pink haired girl was Sakura. "She's… smart, I guess… and she can have two sides of her." He explained as well as he could.

"You are dismissed." Iruka-sensei called, and watched, amused as people ran out of the room, and quickly followed them. A pained look crossed my face, and as best as I could, I tried to cover it, but Sasuke saw. Naruto… he was so innocent… I could only hope to return to my old self someday.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke demanded. I shook my head, but boy, was he persistent.

Finally, I got fed up. "Fine—you really wanna know? This Naruto kid reminds me of how I used to be, before…" I trailed off, swallowing, and shifting my eyes away from his. I realized we were at a lake and I sat down on the dock.

"Tell me, Akki. I know it hurts, I've been through it. I also know it hurts more when you have no one to talk to about it." He pestered. How couldn't I give in? I knew he was right. And so, I began to tell my tale…


	3. Chapter 3

Waking the Demon

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Naruto or any Naruto characters. The only people, so far, in this story that I own are Akki, Aiku, Katsuo, and Okuri.

_**New: Haruko, Gen, Ayame, Cana and all other summoned wolves are also owned by me.**_

_****Disclaimer #2: I do not own the song in this chapter or any other chapter. The song is 'Waking the Demon' by Bullet for My Valentine.**_

Remember to review!

Chapter 3

_**There's not much longer, so don't try and fight**_

_**Your body's weakening, walk to the light**_

_**Most painful times, so alone, so ashamed**_

_**Well I'm not coming back, there's nothing to gain...**_

_**-Story start-**_

Sasuke and I sat in silence for a few moments, my legs swinging back and forth absently as they hung off of the dock. I swallowed once again, unsure. He was a complete stranger—why should I tell him?—I just met him today, after all. No matter, I felt connected to him; like I could rely on him. And so I began my story, still uncomfortable and unsure.

"I lived in a small country, in an even smaller village and clan, but that doesn't matter anymore. I'd rather forget about that. It was only a few hours walk from here. But that's not the point." I went on, keeping my pale blue eyes on the lake. "Anyways, my parents were among the most important and powerful people in my clan—I was happy about that, but it came with costs. My brother and I, along with every other kid with 'important' parents, had to start training at an early age, in order to protect ourselves if we were to ever be kidnapped. As soon as we can walk, talk…" I trailed off, still avoiding his eyes. "We started out with easy training, like laps around the village and endurance training, and then moved onto aim and basic hand-to-hand combat skills. It kept getting harder and more complicated from there, as expected. It was a lot like what people here do, only at a younger age." I explained a bit, just so he could understand my past a bit better.

"I almost always had to train by myself—Aiku was always on missions, along with my parents. No kids from my clan, my village even, could stand to be around me." I admitted, feeling childish. "There were too many rumors surrounding my brother and me, and kids stayed away from us, more specifically me. Rumors usually stated something about me and Aiku being from another clan, another village even. They said that both of us were kidnapped when we were younger, but how could that be true? Aiku would remember if we were kidnapped." I continued. "Either that, or their parents told their kids about… about Okuri." I blushed slightly as I realized I was rambling on and on. But if he wanted to understand me, he had to know, right? "No one paid attention to me there, except Aiku, which was rare because he was always away on missions. Not even my parents paid mind to me." I paused to sigh, remembering those lonely, tear-filled days that I spent all my time training, until it was time to eat, then I would train again, until I collapsed on the ground outside. My brother, Aiku would always find me sleeping outside when he came home and took it upon himself to take me inside each night. I remembered it clearly—people had just begun to trust me when it happened; when _he _happened.

"But that doesn't matter now, I've moved on. Anyhow, my parents were among the most respected people in my clan, only two other people were more respected: Haruko and his wife Gen. Their son, Katsuo, was my best friend since I was little, one of the only two friends I ever had. Katsuo was the most skilled kid of our age group, better than me or anyone else my age. He would win every sparring match he was in and that led him to be respected by all. He was the pride and joy of the Akita clan.

"But then he betrayed us." I stated, bracing my voice and face with a cold exterior, as I glanced towards Sasuke. From my point of view, it looked like he was in a trance-like-state. To others, it may have looked like he was just listening to me ramble on about my past. Little did I know, he was thinking about _his _past and remembering the night when _his _clan was massacred and destroyed. "He killed everyone—his family, friends, and he would have killed me and my brother if he got the chance." I shuddered at the thought that, without Okuri, my life would very well have been over, and so would Aiku's.

There _was _a chance that, together, Aiku and I could have defeated him, but that was a very small chance, if I do say so myself. I wasn't emotionally strong enough, and I doubt Aiku was either, even if he had been in the ANBU black ops—he wasn't completely emotionless, after all, even if that had been what he was taught. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to remember what had happened; Okuri taking over my body before I could even think, and running straight at Katsuo. I _knew _she purposely misaimed her blows—or rather, my blows, only with her chakra coating me in an unbreakable defense. I could still tell what was going on; I could see it with my own eyes, only my mind was clouded with Okuri's rage. "That's really all there is to it. Aiku and I came here after that." I finished, careful to still avoid his gaze. "Really, my clan was attacked and destroyed by my best friend, who, previously, I trusted with my life. He would have killed me and Aiku if Okuri hadn't stepped in." I summoned it all up. "But anyways, I will kill him, even if it does cost me my life." I vowed.

Sasuke seemed to be debating on something as I sat silently, quiet determination burning in my eyes. I didn't want to push him into telling me anything, which was really unusual for me. I guess I didn't want to mess up my first friendships in my new life. Finally he spoke, "I see, and I'm sorry. I have a similar story… one that you might learn later. I'll just say I'm an avenger, like you." After that, the subject changed completely.

"What's your favorite jutsu?' asked the raven-haired boy, looking into the lake. I didn't answer immediately, thinking. What was my favorite jutsu? I didn't have one.

"My favorite jutsu… I have more than one. Well, I only use a few jutsu really: Shadow Clone Jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu, and two new ones I was learning, Rasengan and The Summoning Technique." I listed. "Those are my usual jutsu, but I do know more, I just rarely use them." I concluded, a thoughtful look gracing my face. "And you?"

"Not too many," He admitted. "I like Fire Techniques, like Fire Ball Jutsu." He offered, before changing the topic once again. "Iruka-sensei said something about meeting our sensei around," He paused, looking towards the sun. "In about 30 minutes. Let's go." Sasuke decided, standing up and looking back at me, before looking in the direction of the academy. I blinked in confusion before hurriedly standing up and running after him.

~~~~~Room 303; 4:37 P.M~~~~~

"He's late," Naruto declared, standing by the double doors of the room. I fought back a sarcastic remark; no really; I didn't know he was late, I thought to myself. Naruto Uzumaki—he really was different from all of the other jinchuuriki.

"Naruto," Sakura exclaimed, exasperated. "Just sit down!"

"I don't want to; how come our teacher's the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it!" Naruto yelled decidedly. He really was loud, wasn't he? _Like you used to be? _My demon taunted, it sounded like she knew something I didn't, but what? "The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei is gone, too!"

"We know, okay?" Sakura chimed her head down; it was obvious she was annoyed with the blonde-haired jinchuuriki. Sasuke sat in one of the desks, his eyes closed head down, and hands folded under his chin. "Hey, what are you doing?" The pink-haired girl suddenly shrieked, and my head snapped up to look at what was happening, as did Sasuke's.

Naruto was standing on a chair and trying to lodge into the door, so when it opened, the eraser would fall straight onto the unsuspecting person's head, or at least, that's what it looked like he was doing. "Naruto," screamed Sakura. So, Naruto wasn't the only loud one in the group. Oh, this is great. I'm already getting a headache because of the two.

"That's what he gets for coming late." Naruto explained triumphantly. I smiled slightly, okay, Naruto wasn't all that bad, and at least he wasn't complaining like Sakura. "Surprise!" He added, for extra effect.

"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that," Sakura grumbled, hands on her hips, glaring directly at Naruto.

"Hmm, our teacher's a jounin, an elite ninja; you think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke spoke for the first time. I was torn, I wanted to agree with my friend, but at the same time I wanted our sensei to fall for the prank, just to see the look on his face.

"Yeah, Sasuke's right, you're so clueless, Naruto." Sakura exclaimed, quick to side with her 'one true love,' as she would put it.

Suddenly, the door opened, the eraser plunking on a head with messy, unkept silver hair. Naruto burst out laughing and pointed at the jounin as the rest of us stared in shock. "I got him, he totally fell for it!" The blonde-haired idiot choked between laughs. I, myself, fought back a laugh, at the priceless look on the man's face; well, what you could see of his face anyways. A mask covered his nose and mouth and his forehead protector covered his right eye.

"I'm sorry, Sensei!" Sakura apologized profusely, her hands folded by her face, looking almost scared with her face flushed in embarrassment. "I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen, I'd never do anything like that!" Sakura rambled.

"You actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a jounin?" Sasuke mumbled, though I was the only one who heard. I chuckled slightly.

"I guess he is, if he's our sensei." I spoke up, mumbling so only he could hear.

The jounin picked up the eraser, gazing at it with bored eyes. "Hmm, how can I put this?" The jounin started. "My first impression of this group," He went on, his hand now under his chin, observing us. "You're a bunch of idiots." My mouth almost dropped and I glared at him. Looking around, I noticed everyone looked crestfallen.

The four of us were now on a roof of one of the many buildings in Konoha. "Alright, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time?" Our sensei, Kakashi, stated his voice monotone.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura and I echoed at the same time, unsure. What did he mean by that? "Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura continued, glancing in my direction.

"Things you like; things you hate; dreams for the future; hobbies; and things like that." Kakashi-sensei ticked off.

"Why don't you tell us first, I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto suggested a mixed look on his face.

"Me?" Kakashi-sensei echoed, pointing at himself, before continuing. "I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate, mm, I don't feel like telling you that." He paused, giving time for Naruto and Sakura to gasp and gape at him. "My dreams for the future, never really thought about it." _He's not telling us anything!_ I realized. "As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies." Our new sensei finished.

"That was totally useless; all he really told us was his name." Sakura complained.

"Which we already knew." I chimed in. Naruto nodded, giving an 'uh-huh.'

"Okay," Kakashi continued, interrupting our rambling. "Your turn; you on the right, you start first." He stated, looking towards Naruto.

"Believe it, I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He started, fiddling with his Forehead Protector. "I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle shop." Naruto explained. "But I hate the 3-minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen, comparing them." _Is ramen all this boy thinks about? _I mentally asked myself. "My future dream is to be the greatest Hokage; then the whole village will have to stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody; somebody important!" Naruto exclaimed, standing up, still fiddling with his Forehead Protector. Kakashi-sensei and I raised an eyebrow at the last part. _Okay, that definitely wasn't expected. I thought his dream would be something like making the world's best ramen or something. _

"Alright, next." Kakashi-sensei called out. Sakura was next, after her was me, then Sasuke. I tuned out her little speech and concentrated on the sky, thinking.

"Next!" I heard, breaking me out of my trance. That was fast. "My name is Akki Akita. My likes are… nothing you need to know of. I hate… my ex-best friend. My hobby," I paused to think. What was my hobby? "My hobby is training to get stronger so I can defeat one person." I finally forced out. "My future dream is to simply defeat _him _and to become the best ninja I can." I finished. That didn't give off too much information, did it? Nothing I said there could be used against me, right?

"Last." Our sensei demanded, his gaze shifting towards Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Sasuke deadpanned. "I hate a lot of things. And I don't particularly like a lot of things." Sakura looked so sad. Poor her-she needs to get over it. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone." He definitely sounded evil right now. I'm glad I'm not that 'certain someone'. I shuddered slightly, though it wasn't enough for anyone to notice it. It was silent after that, everyone staring at him; even Kakashi-sensei.

"Good. You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

Naruto grinned. "What kind of mission are we going to have?"

"It's a task that the five of us will do together." Was all Kakashi would give away.

"What? What, what, what, what, what?" Naruto wailed desperately.

"A survival exercise." I tuned out after that, at least until he said, "Out of the 27 graduates that just came here, only ten will be accepted as genin. The other teams will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it, or break it, pass-fail test. The chance that you'll fail is probably at 66 percent." At the dumb looks plastered on our faces, Kakashi-sensei chuckled and continued. "See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?" Once again, I tuned out. How would I make it? Well, considering I started training at an early age, I probably had at least a slight increase of chance, right? "Be at the designated training spot at 5:00 AM and bring your ninja gear." The four of us were fuming, but I didn't say anything. "That's it. You're dismissed. Oh, and tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else, you'll puke." With that, he leaped off of the building, away from us, leaving four stunned, unsure students.

"I'll be going now…" I stated harshly.

Sasuke said nothing, but followed me. Sakura, distressed, wailed out 'Wait, Sasuke. I'm coming with you!' Naruto departed soon after as well…

It was 5:00 in the morning; I was cold, hungry, tired and grumpy. Yawning, I looked up, seeing Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all trudging toward me. Both Sakura and Naruto looked as tired as me, but Sasuke looked fine, as if he always got up at this time. I wouldn't be surprised. They stood in a triangle around me, barely moving as the sun rose. They all had a lot more patience than me. I kept shifting, standing up and pacing, sitting back down, and doing it all over again. Dang, why did we get the sensei that is always late? Finally Naruto crouched down beside me, yawning and drifting in and out of sleep, or that's what it looked like at least. It was at least noon before Sakura collapsed, half-asleep.

And still, it wasn't until a few hours later, Kakashi-sensei showed up. I was ready to attack him, my temper wearing thin since he made us wait so long. Let's hope I don't snap on our first 'mission'. "Morning everyone," Kakashi-sensei said, bored, as he gazed at the three sitting figures and one standing form. "Ready for your first day?"

Instantly, Naruto and Sakura were on their feet, pointing at our sensei, while I remained sitting on the ground, mouth agape, fuming inside and attempting to hold my temper by the thin thread I had it on. "Hey, you're late!" The young ninja and kunoichi wailed, glaring at the silver haired man.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way," Sensei said calmly, using hand motions as emphasis. _Right, of course, that's definitely true. _I thought sarcastically. "Well," The jounin cleared his throat. "Let's get started." Jumping to my feet, I was quick to follow him. Sitting there for so long wasn't exactly exciting, hopefully this 'mission' would be. The jounin plopped some sort of clock on a tree stump. "Here we go. It's set for noon," All four of us stared at him, confused, as he pulled out two bells. Two, but why—when there were four of us, how could we all get one? At least two of us would fail. Unless we worked together, as a team, all of us would fail. But I know for sure, Naruto won't work with Sasuke without making a fuss, and I know Sakura would be more than happy to if she got to work alone with Sasuke… a sigh escaped my lips. This wasn't going to work if we didn't work together. I guess I tuned him out while I was thinking, for as soon as I looked toward him again, Naruto was charging, a kunai swinging in his grasp. Somehow, Sensei ended up behind the blonde-haired jinchuuriki, holding the hand with the kunai behind his neck, the kunai pointed towards the idiot.

"Don't be so hasty," Kakashi-sensei advised. _Or you'll be killed. _That had been drummed and pounded into my head so many times in the past few years."I didn't even say start yet." Kakashi released his hold on the genin, who immediately stepped away from his teacher and rubbed his arm. "But, you came at me with the full intention of destroying me. So—how can I say this?—I'm actually starting to like you guys. Get ready, and… start!" A small smile appeared on my face, but before I could even open my mouth to say anything about teamwork, the other three had took off, leaving me standing there in the open, my mouth hanging open, my eyes suddenly becoming annoyed. _Thanks a lot, guys. _My mind growled sarcastically. Quickly, I decided I would try to help the others, even if they didn't catch on. I had watched the direction the others had gone in, and using some of Okuri's chakra, or rather, special abilities; I used scent to discover their hiding spot. Sasuke was concealed somewhere in some bushes, Sakura as well, and Naruto was… in front of me? When did that happen? Taking this chance to escape and forget about my plan, I seemingly disappeared.

_What do I use? What do I use? _My mind was frantic. I _had _to pass. Aiku had some high expectations of me, and I was required to meet them if I wanted to defeat Katsuo. _Kunai? No, too simple. He would dodge those, even if he were fighting with Sasuke or Naruto, or even Sakura. My jutsu… Shadow Clone! Perfect! _I doubted the plan would work, but it was worth a try, right? Making the hand signs, I muttered, too low for anyone but myself to hear, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two perfect clones of me appeared, and being the childish person I am, I waved to them before sending them to find Sasuke and Sakura, making sure they knew _not _to be seen by the silver haired ninja.

"You and me, right now, fair and square!" Naruto cried, distracting the jounin slightly. This was working out find for me. I stayed, crouched up in the tallest tree I could hide in at the moment, for about 5 minutes before one clone poofed back to my side silently. It was the clone I sent to Sakura. She, however, disagreed with teaming up with me, before I had gotten an 'okay' from Sasuke. Stupid girl, it's not like I'd go through even more trouble just so she could team up with Sasuke. She disagreed and that was that. If Sasuke said yes, I wasn't going to send another clone to find her again. Only a few minutes, 3 minutes tops, the second one appeared at my side. With an inaudible groan, I leaned my head against the tree, concentrating on what was happening around me, not anyone else. Silently, noticing that Kakashi had pulled out a book, at which I almost burst out laughing, I leaped from my tree, and using the Body Flicker Technique, which I had recently learned before my clan was destroyed, I landed beside a charging Naruto.

"I'll help," I mumbled. Naruto, being the stubborn baka he is, objected my offer. Slightly crestfallen that I had exposed myself for no reason at all, I looked around. I stared as Naruto received the 'Thousand Years of Death', holding back a laugh, before once again, using the Body Flicker Technique and appearing somewhere in the cover of the trees. Looking around once more, I noticed everyone was tired and hungry… except for me; wonderful. I had a better chance without as much competition. Thanks to Okuri's chakra, I had more stamina and endurance. Not to mention, I also took a little nap while the rest were waiting for Kakashi-sensei.

_What now? I could use the summoning jutsu… no, there aren't too many wolves in these areas… it wouldn't be normal for one to suddenly appear. Kakashi would instantly know to keep clear of it. What about a pack of wolves? They might have a chance to take him down, but it wasn't likely. Anyways, it was still almost impossible for me to summon a pack of wolves. My chakra control wasn't the best. When I tried to summon a pack, I usually ended up with Ayame, the chief wolf. This is hopeless…_ With a silent sigh, I sat back in the tree. What could I do? My main jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone probably won't work, but anything was worth it now. It was nearly noon, and not one of had gotten a bell.

Once again forming the correct hand signs, several hundreds of me appeared, with Okuri's chakra. A sly smile appeared on my face at the look on Kakashi's face. So apparently Lord Hokage had not told my teacher that I had a demon inside of me. I was somewhere in the middle of the group while I forced one of the clones to stand off at the side, lurking, as if looking for a spot to strike and grab the bell. This was working too well. In my mind, I ordered the clones to charge. But it was at that moment I noticed a few—seven, maybe—Naruto clones mingling in with my clones. I blinked, but decided not to do anything about it. Naruto was yelling about something, being overconfident, maybe? My clones all stopped as the seven Naruto clones attacked… one captured him from behind, and, oh this was confusing. I watched, amazed. Was the flunky actually going to get one of the bells?

No, it was so close! Sensei used a replacement jutsu to make it seem like Naruto had captured him, when in reality, Naruto had captured Naruto. Where'd he go, then? All 299 of my clones set out to hunt him down, me following along as well.

Suddenly, Naruto yelled, "A bell?" I turned, gaping. Since when did he get so luck—or not. From my position, I saw the rope, but from Naruto's view, he wouldn't be able to see it. _NO! _Immediately, I sent one of my many clones in his direction, but, alas, it was too late. Naruto, assuming I was trying to steal 'his' bell, stepped forward hurriedly, as my clone yelled, "NO! It's a trap!" But Naruto was already hanging upside down from the tree and my clone froze in place.

"Oh well." Grabbing a shuriken, I threw it at the rope, followed by several other shuriken of my clones. Why? I don't know, I didn't command them to do it. Naruto fell from the tree, only his feet were still tied, and, I guessed that he was dizzy. Kakashi, uncaring that his capture was now writhing on the ground, continued his little speech on how ninja need to know what is a trap and what is not. Suddenly, though, shuriken flew towards him. I didn't have time to call out, nor did I have time to deflect the six lone shuriken with my own. Only, I was glad I didn't give out my position among my clones as 'Kakashi' was now a log. I stared dumbly, like everyone else.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps hit my ears, along with leaves moving and blowing around. Sasuke and-or-Sakura was on the move once again. Kakashi was somewhere, hiding, probably watching Sasuke and/or Sakura's position. Naruto was still tied up and—wait, did Sakura just scream? Yes, I do believe that was her—Kakashi-sensei must have caught her. I, well, Okuri could sense the chakra in the air, around the area Kakashi and Sakura were in. He must have put up either a barrier, the less likely of the choices, or put her under some type of gen-jutsu.

I watched from the bushes, my clones' numbers down to a mere 3 copies of me, as Kakashi and Sasuke faced each other. I gasped, giving out my position rather stupidly, as Sasuke almost managed to grab a bell. I blinked, as I heard, "Sasuke, no! You've got to survive, please!" Pathetic—she still didn't know it was just a gen-jutsu? Sasuke's fine, right in front of me… and a Kakashi clone is right behind me. A growl of annoyance escaped my throat as I turned to face the clone. When did he even make the Shadow Clone hand signs? "I'd rather like to face the _real _Kakashi, thank you." I growled venomously. I wasn't as stupid or clueless as Naruto and Sakura, but was I as skilled as Sasuke? Probably not, but I'd rather not be grouped with them, right now. Later, sure; now, not quite.

I was thankful my clones had not been right beside me, but rather hidden in the trees and bushes around this space, as I realized I couldn't do hand signs with him staring at me with those bored eyes of his. Mentally, I told the three clones to use the Body Flicker Technique and get Kakashi-clone from behind. They did, quite easily, seeing as we now surrounded him. He poofed away, and I slumped back down. Now he knew what my best ability was. Well, I could always try out my summoning jutsu, even if it did need some more work.

Impatiently, I waited for him to appear before me. I knew the real Kakashi-sensei had used some earth jutsu to trap Sasuke in the ground, so he could appear at any moment now, right? No, apparently not. I heard a yell—Naruto's yell to be exact—and I knew exactly what happened. He tried to steal some of the lunch; that much I knew, and Kakashi-sensei found him. I decided I would try to get Sasuke out, and summoned a small pack of three wolves. Hey, at least I was getting better. I used to either summon Ayame or Cana, one of the youngest, most inexperienced summoning wolves. But, anyhow, at least Cana was reliable. The group of three was Cana, the youngest of the group this time; Convel, her older brother who I had summoned a few times; and Kurt, the oldest of the three, and also a brother to Cana and Convel. I had summoned all of these wolves at least twice.

"Hi." I waved, and Kurt, bowing his head to me (he, like the other wolves, saw me and other wolf summonses' as their beta, higher than them, yet not as strong as Ayame, although I was considered more powerful than Ayame, probably because of Okuri.) "Can you dig him out?" I pointed in the direction of Sasuke. "If he refuses, ignore him. I might need his help later on, in defeating…" I paused, suddenly noticing Kakashi leaning against a tree. "…that guy." I finished, pointing. "He's my teacher." I added on, just so they wouldn't think he was a threat and attack him instead of digging poor Sasuke out. They were so much like… I abruptly cut my own thoughts off.

The three wolves, happy to be helping their 'alpha,' bowed, Cana barking out, "Will do," just as Convel nodded. "We won't disappoint, alpha." The three of them then took off, leaping through the undergrowth easily.

"Did you need something?" I said, almost teasingly. It would be nice if I could hold him off until Sasuke was dug up, but even I know with only a pack of three, it will take a while, and I don't have the patience to keep him occupied for that long. I'd rather not share the same fate as Sasuke did.

"It's almost noon." Kakashi-sensei clucked. Dang, I just noticed that. What to do? Try out Rasengan? It's not nearly close enough to be able to cause too much damage, because I can't maintain the shape and chakra too long, and because he is so quick, I probably won't be able to catch him. It's worth a try, though. Holding out my hand, one arm supporting the other, I concentrated on forming a ball of chakra, imagining getting one of the bells. It wasn't long until my eyes snapped open to reveal a near-gaping Kakashi and a large ball of chakra rolling in my palm. "It's amazing, isn't it? My brother taught me this, along with the summoning jutsu and other things, even though he can't remember how or when he learned it." I stated, grinning cheekily. I was just buying some time; though I didn't care if he knew or not. It wouldn't hurt.

Kakashi nodded, I knew he already knew what I was trying to do—procrastinating—but he almost seemed interested. "And who's your brother?" I gave him a 'duh' look. Hadn't everyone in the village heard about the two kids who came into the village covered in blood? "Aiku; his name is Aiku." I stated proudly. "Anyways, it's almost 12:00," I said informational, looking at the sky; at the sun more specifically. "And I'd really rather not go back to the academy, right? So, it would be nice if you handed over a bell… or I could just take it from you." I stated slowly, blinking. Before he could answer—and I knew his answer would be a definite 'NO!'—I lunged towards him. I know, I didn't have time to put up any traps, like Sasuke, but hopefully my nin-jutsu and tai-jutsu are good enough. Too fast for him to notice, I did several hand signs, whispering under my breath. At least 199 clones appeared, making there be 200 total me's.

With an annoyed look in his eyes, he fended off attacks, while at the same time, doing some sort of harm to them to make them disappear in a pool of smoke. Several times, images of my clones grazing the bells flashed into mind as they disappeared. Yes, I knew that if I concentrated, I could learn what my clones learned about my opponent; also that this technique used to be used for spying missions. Each time a clone got close, excitement welled inside of me, only to vanish until the next clone got close, and the same process would happen, over and over again.

Finally, I got annoyed and dove into the mass of struggling clones, adding more and more, each time one got destroyed. Once Kakashi-sensei realized he was only adding more clones to his attackers, he seemed just the slightest bit hesitant. He knew he needed to find the real me, but that was impossible unless—what?

My mouth gaped open, standing nearly right in front of him, as I gazed at the red Sharingan eye. But that's only possible if you're from the Uchiha Clan… it was a bloodline limit. That confused me to no end, but no matter, I had to do what I had to do. I leapt toward Kakashi-sensei, dispersing the few clones that were in my way. "That was interesting, wasn't it?" Maybe I shouldn't have used so much chakra… I was nearly out, and I didn't want to use Okuri's chakra just to defeat my own teacher. I puffed slightly, doing my best to stay still to regain chakra faster.

Kakashi stared at me, seeing the evil chakra of a demon within my body, using his sharingan. Taking advantage of his state, I aimed a hand toward the bell, nearly grabbing it, my eyes already shining with victory… until my arms were caught and twisted behind my back, and the position they were in, I must say, was quite painful. The Kakashi in front of me disappeared in a puff of smoke and my mouth fell open. Glancing behind me, I saw the triumphant look on Kakashi's face, and, huffing, I relaxed, closing my eyes. If I moved even the slightest bit, pain shot through my arms and rushed throughout my body, causing me to wince and receive more pain than necessary. "I get it, I get it. You win, I lose! Now let me go!" I demanded, pulling out of his reach once he felt I had been captured long enough. "That hurt." I pouted, rubbing my sore arms and shoulders.

Suddenly a grey-brown blur appeared behind Kakashi, silent and swift, making not one noise, grabbing a bell gently but with force and yanking away from the man. I realized the blur was the one and only hyper-active wolf, Cana, the pup who I'd come to love so much. The young wolf, dashed away from the shocked ninja and to my side, all while I was grinning and victory. "I didn't tell her to do that, I swear." I grinned, looking at the bell, shocked, before patting the young wolf warrior on the head. "Go back to your brothers and help, now. I'll take care of myself. But if I do need help, I'll call, right, Cana." With that, still out of breath, I took off running, guessing Kakashi would try and get it back. Why I didn't use Body Flicker Technique? I really was nearly completely out of chakra. Okuri's chakra was an option, but an option I didn't want to take, in case I lost control. I hadn't had enough time training with her, yet.

I looked at the clock as soon as I got close enough; 11:58 AM. Good, I only had to last 2 minutes, and I'd pass… maybe. Let's hope so, even if I do end up passing out from using up all of my chakra. I sauntered around in the cover of the tree, every now and then seeing Kakashi-sensei, before turning and pacing in the other direction. Every time, there was an expression of shock and amazement. No one was on my side, and I know if Sasuke got out already, he'll probably come after me, since I'm weaker than Kakashi. "Cana," I whistled. I didn't feel like being alone and not noticing Sasuke or Kakashi sneaking up on me, before it was too late and my prize was gone. The grey-brown dashed through the forest, skipping over twigs or bushes, before she was at my side, fur bristling. "Don't get near her, or I'll shred you to pieces!" The she-pup howled to the world. "It's her prize; you're not taking it from her!" I laughed, resting a hand on her head.

"You do know you just gave our position away, right, pup?" The wolf puppy lowered her head and gave a high, disappointed whine. "It's okay, though. I wasn't planning on staying here anyways. We've got to keep moving. Did you already dig Sasuke out?"

"My brothers should be done in a matter of minutes. And I saw your mentor on the way here, he looked exhausted. I couldn't see, what did you do to the poor guy?" Cana and I had always gotten along the best, even more so than Ayame and I.

"Oh, I just used my famous Multi-Shadow Clone Attack. But I think I exhausted myself too much, and I don't want to use Okuri's chakra in case I get too protective of the bell and accidently hurt someone." I admitted.

The puppy didn't respond, only lifted her nose to the air and sniffed. The two of us walked back towards the stump, only to be ambushed by Sasuke. _Traitor._ But I didn't blame him. Cana snarled, hurling herself at the boy, while I ran for cover. He didn't have the nose of a dog or wolf… or even Inuzuka, and I don't think he got the Sharingan yet, so really, he had no manner of searching for me in such little time. I leapt high into the trees, watching and peering between the leaves to make sure Cana was safe. No doubt I'd risk losing my prize in order to save a comrade.

And that's exactly what I did when I saw Sasuke, growing annoyed; began to use the Tiger Hand Sign… that's fire jutsu… right? Cana was only still a pup, and hadn't mastered her chakra completely. "No!" I wailed, jumping from the tree, stuffing the bell in my jacket pocket. I threw a kunai to distract him and hopefully get to the limp wolf in time. "You won't hurt Cana! You won't hurt my comrade!" I managed to get to the scene, seeing as I wasn't too far away in the first place, and stood between Cana and Sasuke, my lips pulled back in an angry snarl-like look. It was just one of the habits I had inherited because of Okuri.

Convel and Kurt came sprinting to the scene, lips peeled back in a snarl, their eyes wild and angry for hurting a pack mate. "Kurt, can you get Cana somewhere safe, and then protect her?" I ordered and the young male wolf obeyed, picking the smaller grey-brown pup up by the scruff and taking off into the forest. "Thanks for coming, Convel." The black wolf nodded; he wasn't one to talk a lot.

"Turning against your own comrade, Sasuke?" I snarled. "You know, we could have gotten both of the bells if we had worked together, like I suggested earlier." However, I didn't notice Kakashi was peering from a tree-top, careful to listen to what was happening.

-Kakashi's POV-

I was beginning to take an interest to the girl, Akki. She thought that if she had the bell, she was sure to pass, right? Yet, here she was now, saving a comrade, and just asking her prize to be taken away. Even I knew she wouldn't last against Sasuke, without her chakra back to the full amount.

Speaking of chakra, what was the red chakra I saw? Were the rumors true—the rumors about the ten-tailed—was Okuri, the ten-tailed wolf, really sealed inside the body of this young girl? If so, he would have two jinchuuriki in his team… if they passed that was. Although it could might explain her behavior if it was true; if it was true that Okuri had been sealed inside of her.

I watched from the tree-tops, peering down anxiously. She was in a lose-lose situation, it seemed. She could run, but then he would follow her, probably outrunning her, and she would most likely lose the bell. Or she could fight, and also most likely lose the bell. She was low on chakra, and I didn't need her passing out.

Akki confused me… why was she saving her competition from certain doom? Naruto; she already cut him down from the tree once. Sasuke; she summoned her wolves to dig him out. And now one of the wolves—Cana, did she say?—when it was almost impossible for her to beat the Uchiha heir with her full chakra, unless, of course the rumors were true and she used the Demon Wolf's chakra. Cana wasn't competition, she was a team-mate, and she's risking her life—yes, if she used too much chakra, she could easily die—and risking having to return to the academy.

Peering closer, I noticed the wolf-like snarl on her face, and a slight red tinge to her eyes. Okay, now that I knew my thoughts were correct, I needed to break this up before Sasuke got hurt. As of now, he didn't have a chance-what-so-ever against the Demon, even if she only did have one tail, which I could see the red chakra surrounding her now, even without the Sharingan, and I could tell it was taking the shape of a wolf , even as much as Akki resisted.

Listing off the reasons of why I guessed she did hold inside her the great Okuri, I leaped from the tree, debating on using the Body Flicker Technique to get there faster.

She has the loyalty of Okuri. The only reason that the Demon Wolf attacked was because we hunted down her pack-mates, slaughtering them all. The wolf was actually quite sweet and helping, until someone hurt her friends.

The cloak of chakra. It's taking on a form of Okuri.

Her glare was tinted with red, the color of the wolf's eyes before she died, when she found out what had happened to her family, friends, comrades.

The impatience of Akki. She seemed to be more impatient that Naruto, which was surprising. Okuri always had been impatient, willing to train and get stronger, or that's what I had always been told.

Her past; from what I've learned from the Hokage, which wasn't a lot, nothing about the wolf, but she had a rough childhood, much like Naruto.

The reasons dispersed in my mind as I pushed my way in between Akki and Sasuke. "That's enough."

-Back to Normal POV—

I glared menacingly at Sasuke, scolding myself for trusting the traitor with my past, as I fought to control the Wolf Demon's raging spirit. I felt the cloak of Okuri's chakra begin to surround me, and struggled to hold off her fury. Who knew, if she somehow took over, would she kill Sasuke? I wouldn't doubt it; her past—it made her hate all traitors, weather they betrayed me or someone else. It was all because of her past, it was the reason of her 'trust issues; it was the reason for her being sealed inside of me; it was because of her past that my life had been horrible, being teased about being a jinchuuriki; it was even because of her past that _I _had trust issues.

Kakashi-sensei stepped between us, which only fueled Okuri's rage. She felt like she should have the chance to get revenge. Sasuke didn't even do anything too bad, right? He just wants to pass, and in order to do that, he has to get a bell. And in order to get a bell, he has to either defeat me or Kakashi-sensei. Of course, being the smart person he is, he chose to go after me, since I was low on chakra and considerably weaker and less skilled than Kakashi.

No matter, even I, her jinchuuriki, could not calm the crazy demon spirit down. It was weird, unless my life was on the line—and in no way was it right now—she'd calm down after some pleading. I barely heard Kakashi say "That's enough." Convel stepped back, head bowed, and I tried to do the same, only Okuri kept me in my place. Finally, after what seemed like hours of struggling, the cloak or blood red chakra faded down, and, gladly, my eyes became the normal blue.

"I'm sorry." I spat out, though, inside, I wasn't sorry at all. I knew Kakashi-sensei's favorite student was Sasuke, and I'd rather not have my sensei hate me because I made his favorite student mad. "Right," I went on. "I still have the bell, but… I have to go check on something real quick," I shot a glare at Sasuke before sprinting into the forest in search of Cana and Kurt.

"This way," Convel suddenly said and I nearly jerked to a spot. I totally forgot he was still there, but nonetheless, I let him lead me to his sister. Once there, I doubted I'd be able to find my way out of the cave by myself. There were several different tunnels, in every direction. Probably half of them had some sort of trap set up or would just lead me back to where I started getting lost. Gladly, I had wolves on my side and wolves had heightened sense of smell. I peered silently into darkness, thankfully seeing the still form of the young wolf, Cana. She was still, yes, but I could see the faint rise and fall of her side.

Without Cana, I know I wouldn't have been able to get the bell; she always knew what to do to help me, like Kiara had, before…anyways, she knew what to do even if I didn't ask her to. Picking up the wolf, I decided I needed more light in able to see if I could help her any. I was fairly certain that she would live even if I didn't help speed up the process, but I wasn't completely sure. "Can you all take me back outside? I need more light to see her. And if she's really bad, I might need to take her to the Inuzuka family. They're vets, I think." I babbled, picking up the limp grey wolf pup and cradling her like a baby.

The two older wolves trotted in front of me, obviously worried for their sister, their pack mate. If Cana ends up dead, Sasuke _will _regret it. But as they got closer to the entrance to the cave, Akki could clearly see that the pup was just passed out, and definitely had no fatal wounds. "She'll be okay, I think. You two are dismissed, but I'm going to keep Cana here with me just to make sure. I'll summon someone if anything happens with her." I said, nodding to them.

Still cradling the pup fondly, I entered the clearing once again. I saw Kakashi-sensei behind a tree from the corner of my eye; Sasuke was sitting on one side of Naruto, who was tied effectively to a tree, and Sakura on the other. I decided to say nothing about Kakashi hiding, watching, and sat down in front of Naruto, not lifting my gaze away from the fainted wolf. But whenever I did, I made sure to send Sasuke a deadly glare.

Since when was I so hungry? I looked around for another lunchbox, but saw none. Naruto didn't have one either, so I guessed there were only two. Naruto was going on about how he definitely wasn't hungry, until; of course, his stomach had to betray him by rumbling loudly. I smirked a bit, before lying down, looking at the clouds, Cana curled up on my stomach. I heard shuffling, before sitting up, cradling my friend once again. "So, what's happening?" I asked, keeping my eyes purposely away from Sasuke.

"None of us passed, but I don't know about you. Once we eat lunch, we have another chance. Kakashi-sensei scolded us about not working in a team before you came back. And if we try to feed Naruto, we fail." Sakura said dejectedly. Wait, but then we—Naruto and I—won't be at full strength. Just as dejectedly, I looked at Naruto.

"Can I borrow someone's lunch? If someone's going to fail, it might as well be me," I reached in my pocket, grabbing the bell and looking at it sadly. It wasn't even _me _who stole it from Kakashi—it was Cana. Unless we were allowed to have summoned animals steal it while we distracted him, I didn't get it fairly.

"No! Wait! If we feed him, we won't be going to the academy; he'll drop us from the program." Sakura objected. I glared at her.

"He's a _team-mate._ And he won't be much use to the _team _if he's sitting there starving to death." I snapped. "We just have to make sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't see." I spat at her, holding my hand out for a lunchbox. Sasuke started to hand me his lunch, before Sakura interrupted his movements, reaching out and dropping her lunchbox into my open and waiting hands.

"Thanks." Suddenly noticing his hands were tied too—_of course they are; otherwise, he'd be able to escape—_I paused. Reaching up to feed him, just as he took a bite, smoke swirled around us. Surprised, I gasped, falling onto my bottom, my mouth hanging open as Kakashi appeared.

"You," He cried, drawing out the lone word. Sasuke and Naruto started screaming, fighting against the force of the wind, while Sasuke just made an 'uh' sound, his hands protecting his face as he pushed against the wind. I grabbed for the wolf pup, holding her against my chest, shielding her while at the same time, fighting against the force. "You broke the rules," Kakashi-sensei hissed, suddenly in everyone's faces. I flinched back slightly, still in a trance-like-state. "I hope you're ready for your punishment!" He began making hand signs, but I wasn't paying enough attention to decipher what exact hand signs, or the order. Storm clouds appeared overhead and it started lightning. "Any last words?" My mouth, still agape, snapped closed. At that second, I was sure that he was going to kill me; kill us.

Sasuke, like me, was glaring menacingly at Kakashi; Sakura was shuddering and covering her head while Naruto's teeth clattered silently.

"But…you…said," Naruto clattered out.

"Yes?" Kakashi-sensei's head tilted to the side, his eye staring mercilessly at Naruto.

"You said that there were 4 of us! That's what you said and that's why Sakura and…" Naruto started yelling, his voice quieting with each word.

"We're all on this squad, and we're all in it together." Sasuke stated firmly.

"Yeah, that's right! We gave our lunch to him because the three of us are one!" Sakura yelled, suddenly gaining courage.

"They're right." I said solemnly. "If one of us is weak, then the whole team is weakened because of it." I growled, leaning up so I was sitting on my knees, much like Sakura, glaring defiantly.

Naruto, feeling the need to talk as well, shouted, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah; believe it! That's right!" Naruto cried, thrashing about in the ropes.

"The four of you are one, that's your excuse?" Kakashi said his voice deadly. Then, his mood changed completely. "Hmm, you pass." Kakashi smiled in a sing-song voice.

My jaw dropped once again and I gaped unbelieving at him. "We…pass." I repeated, echoing his words.

"You… pass." Kakashi-sensei said slowly, nodding.

"What…do you mean?" Sakura put in. "How'd we pass?"

"You're the first squad who ever succeeded. The others did exactly what I said, and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum—that's true." He paused. "But, those who abandon their friends are worse than scum." I stared up at our teacher, amazed. Honestly, I didn't think he had it in him to be nice. "The training session is over. Everyone passes; squad seven starts its first mission, tomorrow." My eyes shining in victory, I stood up as to hand him the bell.

"Here," I mumbled, dropping the golden bell into his palm. "I'm going to go now," I glanced towards Cana, sent a glare to Sasuke, before walking away from the group, clutching the young wolf in my arms. I was going to get Cana home, and take care of them there.

Suddenly a loud yell brought me out of my thoughts. "You forgot to untie me!" Naruto's voice cried. I snickered; I knew that they were leaving him tied for a reason.

Now what? My only human friend turned out to be a traitor. Sure, Naruto and Sakura could be considered friends, even possibly Kakashi-sensei, but it's not like any of them could understand me.


	4. Chapter 4

Waking the Demon

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters. The only characters I own so far in this story are: Akki, Aiku, Gen, Katsuo, Okuri, Ayame, Haruko, Cana and the other summoned wolves.**_

_**Disclaimer #2: I do not own the song in this chapter or any other chapter. It's 'Waking The Demon' by Bullet for My Valentine.**_

Chapter 4

_**Breathe for me**_

_**Don't wake me from this slumber**_

_**Stay with me**_

_**Possession taking over!**_

_**-Story start-**_

I took a deep breath before knocking on Lord Hokage's office door. He had sent some chuunin early this morning to tell me to go to this one room at 5:00 AM. I, of course, went—no surprise there—and they told me I had to get my picture for some mission information. Not in the mood to argue, I went along with their little plan, got my picture taken, and then they sent me here.

I heard a faint, "Come in!" and did not disappoint, pushing open the door and stepping inside. I was hesitant, but that was no surprise. The last time I had saw him, I was yelling at him in anger, ready to attack—it was no wonder why I was acting so shy. He could easily exile me, or even kill me—no matter how old he may look.

"Lord Hokage? You sent for me?" I asked quietly, stepping into the room, my defiant personality totally dispersed.

"Akki," Lord Hokage stated softly. "Come here and sit down." He paused as I sat, but I determinedly kept my eyes on the desk. "Akki, look at me. I understand why you started yelling. You were stressed, and you probably still are. I understand that, even if that didn't happen to me," _He doesn't understand either. Only Sasuke does. _I thought bitterly—Sasuke, the one person who I let in, who then thanked me by turning his back to me and betraying me.

Thinking of Sasuke's betrayal led me to the thought of Cana's broken, limp body. I slightly shuddered at the picture. Now, Cana was healing nicely. After I left the training session, I took her to the Inuzuka's, who were extremely nice, by the way, and Hana, Kiba's sister, took a look at her. Unexpectedly, she had a broken leg, I guess from the force of the landing, but other than that, nothing was wrong with her. But still, I refused to leave her at the veterinary, no matter how much Hana tried to convince me that it would be better. Finally she gave in, and I took her back to my apartment to look after her. That's where she was now, probably asleep with Aiku watching over her.

"Yes, I know. I didn't mean to snap at you; I'm sorry." I told him grudgingly. Anything to get on his good side was worth it.

"Alright then, Akki, how did training go? I assume it went well?" The old man asked, shuffling through several papers on his desk, before glancing quickly at me, still trying to find whatever he needed.

"It went fine. We all passed. Did Kakashi-sensei say anything about it?" I asked, hoping Kakashi hadn't asked about Okuri's chakra.

"That's nice," He sent me a wrinkle-filled smile. "No, did you expect him to say anything?" He asked, going back to his papers.

"No, nothing at all; I was just wandering." I covered, breathing a silent sigh of relief.

"Okay. Akki, this is some paperwork that you need to fill out before you go on missions. You can stay here and finish it or you can go back to your apartment then bring it back—either way, give it to me before your first mission."

"I'll stay here and finish it, that is, if it's okay?" I raised an eyebrow, being as formal as I possibly could muster. He nodded, digging through more paperwork after giving me the paper and a pencil.

I looked at the paper, seeing it was just questions:

Your Name: Akki Akita

Age: 12

Birth date: October 10

Family: Tera Akita (mother; deceased), Lenny Akita (father; deceased), Aiku Akita (brother; living)

Kekkei Genkai: None

Other: Jinchuuriki of the Ten-tailed Wolf. At age 12, clan was killed by unknown suspect

It was quite easy to fill out the form, and I reread it a few times, checking spelling and the information over. Swallowing, I handed over the paper, in which he promptly clipped the picture I had just taken onto it. "Is that it?" I asked eagerly. I wanted to check on Cana to make sure she was still fit to come on the mission. Aiku would be going on missions as well, and I couldn't leave her there in the apartment alone.

"Yes, Akki, you are dismissed." With a smile, I charged out of the room, leaped away from the building and jogged happily toward me apartment…only to smack face first into something…or rather someone.

Looking up, I stared into the dark black eyes belonging to none other than Sasuke Uchiha. I debated on ignoring him, but our fight had to be fixed somehow, right? Or else the mission probably won't be done at our best. I blinked slowly, stepping back. I wondered why _he _was up so early.

"Sasuke…" I trailed off, struggling to keep from yelling at him. "Sorry for running into you, I wasn't paying attention," I said, doing my best to ignore the obvious tension in the air. "Um, and sorry about yesterday… I think." I added on dejectedly.

"Me too." Sasuke said, just as sulkily.

"Right, um, we should come to an agreement or something so our mission will get done better." I mumbled quietly. He nodded in agreement. "No wait, forget I said that. I don't like fighting with you—you were my first friend here, besides Shika, but…" I trailed off again. "I think we should stop fighting and get over our problems. We both passed, so what's the issue?" I concluded. He, once again, merely nodded.

"Fine; no more fighting. Problem resolved." He mumbled, trying to be nice, I guess.

"Exactly; but, if you couldn't tell before, I'm in a hurry to get back. See ya!" I cried over my shoulder, already sprinting back to my apartment. Once there, I collapsed against the door, breathing harder than I should have been. I really need to get back to training—I'm out of shape again.

Suddenly the door opened, and I fell back onto my back, finding myself staring up at Aiku. "Hey! It's you!" I panted, sitting back up and pointing childishly.

"I thought I heard something." He mumbled under his breath, grabbing my hand to pull me up.

"That's right!" I cheered childishly. Aiku was the only person I could really be _me _around. "Where were you going anyways? I told you to babysit Kia-!" I cut myself off, a saddened look on my face. "No, I told you to babysit Cana for me!" He looked at me sympathetically.

"I wasn't going anywhere. I thought I heard something so I came to check. You know, you would be a horrible spy." My older brother smirked jokingly at me.

"No! I would be a good spy." I pouted, childish once again. "I was just tired, and do tell, what reason do I have to be quiet, here?" I shot back at him.

"Maybe because some people want to actually sleep in the morning—is that a good enough reason?" He asked, pulling me into the apartment and walking towards my bedroom, where Cana was currently napping.

I sauntered over to my bed, gently sitting down next to the puppy that lifted her head, eyes lighting up as she saw me. Ever since her parents had been killed during a summoning—not by me—she considered me as a parent, as a protector. I'd taken the job of what her mother would do when she was still so young. I guess I did see her as a child, even when she wasn't human, literally risking my life to protect her. I know that's happened more than once, not just with Sasuke, who I'd doubt would kill me just for a bell, but who knows?

"Hi Cana," I smiled, barely noticing Aiku leave the room to go sleep some more. "How are you? I did tell you that you're coming on my mission today, right?" I asked. The young wolf nodded her head, yawning.

"Yes, you did. Where are we going?" She asked, speaking quietly.

"I have no clue." I admitted. "Now get some rest," I advised.

=====7:55 AM=====

"Wha-!" I cried, shooting out of my bed, rubbing my eyes before looking at the clock once again—7:55 AM? I was going to be late—again! Why didn't Aiku wake me, like he usually did? If I was going to be going on the mission, even if it was just helping some lady with her garden or catching a lost pet, I needed to be at Lord Hokage's office in 5 minutes. I shoved the covers off of my body, shivering slightly when the cool air hit my skin. I changed clothes, brushed through my hair once, before sprinting into my living room to grab the bag I used for all of my missions. I shoved some extra pairs of clothes into the bag, along with everything else I'd need.

It only took a matter of seconds for me to finish with that, and then grab Cana. I wasn't sure if I'd have time to come back and get her before we went on the mission. The surprised pup yelped, wiggling in my arms before relaxing, her fur fluffed up. "Hey—that wasn't nice, ya know?" She slurred. "I was sleeping; you could have woken me up before picking me up like that. At least that way, I wouldn't think I was being kid-napped!" She complained, wiggling in my arms to get comfortable. I, of course, ignored the grey wolf pup, stuffing snacks and drinks into my bag, along with some food for Cana. I was about to leave the apartment, when I noticed a note. I didn't take the time to admire the neat scrawl like I usually would, and read the note:

'Akki,

Sorry I wasn't there to wake you up. Hopefully you're not late, which I wouldn't be surprised if you were. I was called to go on a mission at 6:30; right after you fell back asleep. I decided you deserved more time to sleep so I left without telling you. I'll be back in a week or so.

Good luck and be safe

-Aiku'

Good, at least he has a reason for not being here. Still, I sighed, crumpling the note and tossing it in the trash, before stuffing Cana's small body in my loose jacket, much like I'd seen Kiba do with Akamaru and how I used to carry around—

I cut my thought off purposely. Carrying her like this was easier than having both of my hands occupied. I ran out the door, letting it slam behind me as I leaped off of the balcony-like-overhang –walkway outside of the apartments. My feet landed silently on the roof of the building below, and from there, I leapt to building to building, not bothering to try to stay hidden. It didn't matter if I was jumping from roof to roof did it? I guess not since no one was yelling or coming after me.

It wasn't long until I leapt onto the ground once again, doing my best to knock the least amount of people over. Huffing, I pushed open the doors to the big red building, and then sprinted up the stairs, shoving the door open to Lord Hokage's office before collapsing on the ground, panting for breath.

"Am…I…am I late?" I puffed out, sitting up as Cana wiggled out of my grasp. Her fur was ruffled and fluffed up and the grey wolf pup was careful to keep her paw off the ground.

"You better be!" The pup snapped, shaking her fur out before sitting on the ground, her tail wrapped carefully around her paws, as she took in the people in the room: Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and Lord Hokage.

"Yes you were late." Lord Hokage informed, smiling fondly at me. Sakura looked ready to bite my head off; Sasuke had the normal emotionless look on his face; Naruto was grinning at me. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything's good… except for the fact that I was here at 5:00 AM, and _someone…" _I sent a teasing glare towards the Hokage. "…sent my brother off on a mission so I was late."

"I'm sorry." The Hokage paused. "He was the only available ninja that could work for the job. But anyways, as I was explaining about your mission." The old man sitting in front of us closed his eyes and folded his hands. "Team 7 is to escort Tazuna, the bridge builder, and protect him until the bridge is built, and then you are free to return back to Konoha. You all are dismissed."

It wasn't long after that we were standing outside the gates of Konoha. The guy we were escorting and protecting, Tazuna, was most obviously not someone I had expected to be escorting. Naruto was celebrating his first time out of the village, and almost immediately, Tazuna started doubting him once again. "Hey, will a kid like this really be capable of this mission?" The bridge-builder asked. Kakashi-sensei laughed as Naruto froze.  
"I, a jounin will be accompanying you. There's no need to worry." Kakashi-sensei reassured. I glared at the bridge-builder.

"The rest of us are just genin," I said defensively. "This _is _their first time out of the village, after all. Don't expect so much of us." I growled. Not only was in constant fear of being betrayed, if you were my friend, I'd defend you and protect you with my life. Like a wolf pack; my friends were like my pack and any normal, able wolf would protect their pack with their life.

"Their?" The bridge builder echoed. "What about you?" I blinked at him.

"It's, ehm, I don't have to tell you. It's personal." I finally managed to snap out, glaring and cursing the bridge-builder silently for bringing back such harsh memories, although, it didn't take long for my eyes to drop to the ground, pictures of dead comrades, family, friends, all flashing across my mind, causing me to shudder.

Quickly, I walked towards the front so I was walking along side the other jinchuuriki, Cana limping beside my feet. I kept attempting to pick her up but, each time, she would object, saying she could walk on her own—but even I could tell she was in immense pain and tiring quickly. There was silence between the two of us, the two jinchuuriki, weather he knew that or not, but it wasn't an awkward silence, like it would have been if I were walking with everyone else. Glancing back, I noticed Sasuke was walking behind us, trailed by Sakura and lastly Kakashi-sensei was walking along beside Tazuna.

We were walking along a long, dirt path, when a thought struck me. It hadn't rained in days, so why was that puddle there? Or was I just imagining things? No one else seemed to notice it. I decided to say nothing, and kept anxiously glancing around. I was sure someone noticed, but if they did, they didn't ask me about it.

But, as cautious as I was, I still nearly stumbled back as two foreign ninja lunged towards Kakashi-sensei. There was a spiked chain-like weapon attaching the two ninja, I jumped out of the way, pushing Naruto at the same time. I saw Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna all safe as well, but where was—?

A gasp escaped my mouth as I saw Kakashi-sensei wrapped thoroughly in the chain, unable to break out of it. The two ninja, taking advantage of our shocked state, pulled the chain, leaping back and squeezing Kakashi-sensei. I took an unintentional step back, my mouth hanging open in—what?—fear; surprise; anger? I couldn't decide which as I watched Kakashi-sensei, well, explode. Several wails of surprise escaped the other genin, as well as me and Tazuna, as we watched helplessly.

_ Even if Kakashi-sensei was killed, which I'm fairly certain he was, he'd want us to protect Tazuna, right? He'd want us to get Tazuna back to the Leaf Village, unscathed, instead of leaving him here to die. _My thoughts were interrupted as one, or both for all I could tell, of the ninja yelled, "You're next!" My head snapped up to see the chuunin charging towards Naruto and I—more so Naruto than I though—and, acting purely on impulse, I shoved Naruto out of the way.

I was certain I was about to be killed, even with Cana rushing toward me, as the chain formed a lasso-like trap. It happened too fast for me to even begin to get out of the way—that, and I felt like I was frozen. I clenched my eyes shut, willing my legs to start working again. I managed to duck down, and gasped as I looked up to see that, if I had been standing a moment longer, I would have been crushed, just like Kakashi-sensei. The two ninja aimed the chain at me again, frustrated. I went to leap away, but found I didn't have to as a shuriken pinned the chain to a tree, and then a kunai was thrown at the shuriken, successfully securing the chain.

My mouth fell open once again as I saw Sasuke land on the claw-like-"hands" that were attaching the chains to the other ninja. He kicked the two ninja away from the tree, causing the chain to be yanked out of the claw-hands. A sigh of relief escaped my lips, and I crouched down, my legs like jelly. My eyes shifted tiredly towards Naruto and my eyes widened as I noticed his hand was oozing blood. My face paled—how hadn't I noticed that earlier? More importantly, when did it happen? Was it the claws when the two ninja got up to attack Tazuna? I knew, for one, that the claws had poison on them, and I stumbled over to him, knowing Sasuke and Sakura could protect the bridge-builder for now. Right now, I needed to make sure he didn't move around too much.

I heard the fast-paced footsteps suddenly stop and risked looking, only to see Kakashi standing, holding the ninja in a choke hold. For the, at least, tenth time today, my jaw dropped. He looked at Sasuke and Sakura, instantly noticing both Naruto and I were gone, before looking our way. He saw me crouched on the ground, looking between Naruto and him. "Hi." He said grimly, no emotion on his face. "Naruto, sorry for not coming sooner. I didn't mean for you to get hurt. I just didn't expect you to freeze up like that." He paused. I gave him a short glare, but I kind of expected it, and turned back to Naruto. "Good job, Sasuke, Akki…Sakura." He praised, and started to walk away.

"Come on," I sighed, following our teacher, my eyes on the ground, until I heard Sasuke call out to Naruto.

"Hey," He paused, looking at the yellow-haired jinchuuriki teasingly. "You're not hurt are you? Cry baby." Sasuke taunted. I glared at him, but refused to say anything as I hurried to catch up. I almost ran into Kakashi, who was still holding the guys under his arms.

"Kakashi-sensei? Naruto got wounded by those guys' nails." I informed almost silently. He nodded, showing me he already knew. He warned Naruto to try to refrain from moving too much, before turning to Tazuna—I didn't bother listening to what they were talking about, that is, until Sakura insisted that we go home. Naruto, of course, objected.

He grabbed a kunai and stabbed his own hand which had the scratches. "Why am I so different? Why am I always…" He paused, trailing off and cursing in anger. He ignored Sakura's cries asking what he was doing and telling him to stop. "I should be stronger… I've accomplished lots of missions and practiced techniques every day…" Once again, he let himself stop his own sentence. "I'm never going to do something that will require someone to help me." He stated, though I knew his rant wasn't over yet. "I'm never going to be frightened and try to back out of things. I'm not going to lost to Sasuke. I vow that to this pain in my left hand. I'm going to protect the old man with this kunai." He grinned, turning back to face us. "The mission is still on."

"Naruto, as awesome as that speech was and all, but you're going to die from loss of blood if any more comes out." Kakashi-sensei said, surprising me. "It's not good if you don't stop it right now. Seriously." Kakashi-sensei said cheerfully. Naruto, of course, started freaking out. I sighed—I knew he wouldn't die… well, that is, if his demon is anything like mine.

It wasn't long until we were all perched in a rowboat, unable to see nearly anything through the foggy blanket of mist. It didn't take too long after that, that we could see the bridge. "Tazuna, before we get to the pier, there's something I need to ask you." Kakashi-sensei stated, his eyes bored, as always. "The identity of the ones after you and why they are after you." He finished. "Or we can call this mission off when we get to the shore."

"It looks like I have to tell you the real story." Tazuna sighed, almost regretfully. "I mean, I would like for you to hear my story. As you said, this mission is most likely out of your job description. An extremely terrible man is after my life."

"An extremely terrible man?" Kakashi-sensei echoed questionably.

"Yes," He breathed. "You should have at least heard of the name: Marine transportation billionaire, Gatoh."

"Gatoh—the one from the Gatoh Company—?" Kakashi asked, his eyes widening a bit. "He's one of the richest men is this world." They went on for a bit, and in that time frame, I zoned out.

It wasn't too long after _that, _that we were walking Tazuna home, taking in the sights. It didn't look like this country had been taken over by that billionaire, Gatoh, but you can't be sure, can you?

Sasuke moved to walk beside Naruto, leaving me alone, walking in front of Sakura. I raised an eyebrow as Naruto ran ahead, scouting the area. What was his problem? Was he really that jealous of Sasuke? Naruto suddenly through a kunai into a bush, causing everyone in our group to stare, before Kakashi-sensei and Sakura began scolding him, although he appeared to be ignoring them and paid no mind the fact that he was getting yelled at. He continued boasting, throwing another kunai into a different bush, claiming something was there.

Naruto and Sakura began yelling at each other, but that was no surprise. Sakura always had to have everything perfect. But it wasn't Naruto's fault that he was jealous, was it? Kakashi and I, deciding the smart way out, walked over to the bush, and peered at the tree behind it. A rabbit was lying against the tree, a terrified look on its face, a kunai right above its head. Sakura followed, as well as Naruto and Sasuke, and looked at the white rabbit, before ranting to Naruto once again. Oh, how I'd hate to be in his position. Naruto, being the soft-hearted boy he was, ran over and picked up the rabbit in distress.

"Everyone, get down!" Kakashi-sensei yelled, just as a large, well, something that looked like an oversized steak knife, began flying towards us. It wedged its self in a tree, and lithely, a man leapt down onto the handle of it. "Oh," Kakashi-sensei said 'happily'. "You are Momochi Zabuza, the exiled ninja of the Hidden Village of Mist." He stated. Naruto ran forward, only to be stopped by Kakashi's hand. "You're in the way, stay back everyone." Kakashi directed. Naruto, as expected, threw a tantrum.

"Why?" He wailed.

"He's way different from the guys we met before," Kakashi-sensei explained, before slowly lifting the Forehead Protector off of his right eye. Everyone gaped. I heard Zabuza speak, but ignored it.

"Everyone, protect Tazuna." Sensei ordered, and instinctively, the four of us genin surrounded Tazuna to the best of our ability. At that moment, I noticed, as he opened his eye, that it was, in fact, red. At first, I was confused, until I remembered the bloodline limits. _Sharingan? _I thought incredulously. But, aren't the only sharingan users the Uchiha's, like Sasuke? I would never understand that, at least, not for a while. They began explaining to Naruto what Sharingan was, but I didn't pay attention.

In a motion I couldn't catch, Zabuza and his sword-like weapon disappeared from my view. Looking over, I ignored the other's exclamations of surprise. Zabuza was perched, standing on the water next to us. But I couldn't see him for long, as mist formed around us, blocking him from view. "Mist Concealment," I heard, before I couldn't see anything, not even if I were to wave my hand in front of my face. It was like I was blind, only instead of seeing darkness, I saw silver-white. Instead of focusing my sight, I closed my eyes and concentrated on my hearing.

"Eight points," A taunting voice called from the fog. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collar bone, kidney and heart," The voice echoed. "Now, which vital organ do you want to get struck out?" I shuddered. _None of the above, _I thought defiantly.

Suddenly, the mist cleared, if only for a second, and I saw chakra swirling around Kakashi-sensei. At that moment, I shuddered… the thirst for blood; the intent to kill was terrifying. It felt like _I _was the one about to fight a life or death battle with one of the jounin. Doing my best to calm my tensed nerves, I noticed that I wasn't the only one quivering. Sasuke was struggling, as well, I could tell, especially as he reached out, clasping his kunai in both hands.

"Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei scolded. "I'll protect all of you with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die—I promise." He vowed. The three of us stared, as we saw him through the lessening mist, throw us a smile. The intent to slaughter was still there, but it wasn't as, well, fierce as before. It was easier to breathe; to think.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Another voice, definitely not someone on Team 7, or Tazuna, teased from behind us. I forced down a gasp as I finally heard Zabuza in the middle of the 5 of us. "This is the end," He growled out, and I forced my tense body to move, although my legs seemed to be frozen to the spot. I was about to shove Tazuna out of the way, even if it did mean my life being ended, when suddenly, Tazuna, me and everyone else was pushed to the ground. Glancing up, my mouth agape, I realized that Kakashi-sensei was fighting Zabuza. No, wait. That wasn't right. He wasn't fighting him; he had just stabbed him in the stomach with a kunai… except, that wasn't blood that was pouring out of him… it was… water? He was using a water clone, then? It _was _possible, and I wouldn't doubt it.

"Sensei, behind you," Naruto suddenly cried, pointing. Kakashi-sensei froze, much to my surprise, and I gasped as Zabuza swung his over-sized sword right at Kakashi. I gasped as it hit the target and…water went everywhere. Well, at least he was safe, and not dead.

"Don't move," Kakashi threatened, suddenly holding a kunai to the man's throat. "This is the end," He echoed. Naruto and Sakura cried out in astonishment, while Sasuke and I kept quiet. I didn't think it would be over this quick.

"However," A voice suddenly said. "I'm not that easy to defeat." I watched in astonishment as Kakashi was kicked into the water, followed soon after by a determined Zabuza. What really surprised me? When Kakashi came out from underwater, Zabuza had him instantly trapped in some sort of water prison.

I gaped as a water clone of Zabuza appeared in front of us. I tuned out on what everyone was saying, trying to think up a plan. So, Kakashi-sensei was trapped, and that leaves me, Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura to protect Tazuna.

Suddenly, it was impossible to see again. I felt a sudden gust of air beside me, and I snapped my head to the side in time to see Naruto go flying and a foot appear in my view. There he is… along with Naruto's Forehead Protector. There goes Naruto. All that's left, for now, unless Naruto can recover, is Sasuke, me and Sakura. I don't think Sakura will be much help if she refuses to leave Tazuna's side.

Kakashi-sensei was yelling at us to run, and I actually expected Tazuna too. But was it not Kakashi-sensei who said those who abandon their friends are worse than scum? All in all, Sasuke had just described what I was thinking. He was suddenly sprinting towards Zabuza, throwing shuriken. As I had thought, he blocked them with ease, and allowed Sasuke to get above him. Just as I thought Sasuke would land a blow, Zabuza caught Sasuke by the throat, choking him. "Sasuke," I yelled, immediately rushing forward to help my comrade. Cana, her exhaustion and pain seemingly completely gone, ran by my side, growling.

Forming the hand signs, I summoned one of the larger wolfs, he definitely wasn't Ayame, but he wasn't as small as Convel, Cana and Kurt, who are the size of normal wolves. He was called Dib, although I could almost guarantee that Dib wasn't his real name. That was just a nickname for him. Dib was about the size of a horse, and, although, thin, he was stronger than he looked. But before the three of us could reach the two, Zabuza had thrown Sasuke through the air.

Zabuza was now standing over Naruto, who was quivering in fear, on the verge of running… well, until he remembered his vow of pain that is. Naruto, before I could even comprehend it, was sprinting right at Zabuza. He was thrown back, no surprise there, but when he sat up, I realized he had retrieved his headband. At that moment, I vowed, to myself, that I would never give up, like Naruto. I would follow his lead. I wanted to be just like him, from that moment on... other than the different dreams. Much to my surprise, he stood up. He wiped away the blood under his lip, turning to Sasuke to explain his plan. I was eager to see what they had planned, as I stood, not far from Zabuza, beside Dib, who had Cana on his back. I was amazed that they didn't listen to Kakashi-sensei when he yelled at them again, but then again, it is Naruto we're talking about, right? He listens to no one.

"Old man?" Naruto checked. Tazuna objected, meaning we didn't leave. Zabuza started claiming that we weren't ninja, and talking about a 'Final Test'. Of course, I didn't listen. I had a habit I needed to break, I realized. I needed to start listening. What would happen when I missed something important?

This was important. I gasped as; once again, Sasuke was flying through the air. No sooner that he had landed was Zabuza slamming his elbow into Sasuke's stomach, causing Sasuke to cough up a decent amount of blood.

"Die." Zabuza growled, and instantly, using the Body Flicker Technique, the wolves and I were standing beside Zabuza. I formed another hand sign, and about 10 shadow clones appeared, surrounding us.

"Back off!" I spat, causing Dib to snarl, showing pearly white fangs. I grabbed a kunai, and aimed at his throat, but only managed to make a gash in his arm, because of his speed, but he didn't even cry out in pain. Naruto was now here too, along with his 50 or so shadow clones. Zabuza stepped off of Sasuke, and Sasuke struggled to his feet. Naruto's were seemingly falling from the sky, straight at the masked man, aiming kunai.

Naruto's landed directly on Zabuza, forming a barrier almost, around him. I stared in wonder. How'd he come up with that? I crouched beside Sasuke, staring at Naruto as he and his clones went flying into the air. Naruto threw something, a fuuma shuriken, I believe, and Sasuke caught it.

Somehow, I managed to zone out, and zone out I did, well, that is, until blackness overtook me, and I passed out. My eyes shut, even as I struggled to hold them open, interested in what was going on, and the last thing I heard was two howls, several whimpers, along with a few gentle nudges, before I fell backwards, my vision blurring, until it was gone.

The next morning, I woke up in an unfamiliar room, the sound of seagulls giving me a headache. "Ehh," I groan. I open my eyes, to see the blurry form of Cana leaning over me. I struggle to sit up, and once I manage, I groan once again, grabbing my head. I was quite dizzy, and the headache I had wasn't helping that fact at all. "Hey, Cana?" I mumble out, still clutching onto my head. "Where are we?"

"We're at Tazuna-sama's house." The young pup barked.

"Well, okay then, if you're sure. What happened? Last thing I remember, we were fighting Zabuza. What happened to him?"

Just then, a beat-up looking Naruto and Sasuke entered the room I was in. I was still sitting up, clutching my head, and I looked up at them.

"Akki," Naruto yelled, causing me to give him a death glare.

"Shut up, would you? You're being too loud." I groaned out, flopping down on my new bed. Naruto looked at me apologetically.

"Oops—sorry Akki," Naruto found it in him to whisper. "I forgot. Tazuna's daughter said that you apparently got poisoned somehow. Do you remember when it happened?" I shook my head no. It hurt to think. "Oh well, then. You passed out, and your wolf took you away from the scene. When the hunter-nin got there and Kakashi-sensei passed out-," I cut him off.

"Kakashi-sensei passed out?" I yelled, only to groan in pain and clutch my head, mumbling "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"

"Yeah, we already visited him too! His sharingan he used after you passed out puts a lot of strain on his body. Sakura is still with him." I nodded my head in understanding. I knew he wasn't from the Uchiha clan, so it was obvious that he had it transplanted or something of that sort.

"Sasuke," I asked, noticing he looked a bit troubled. "Is something wrong? What happened with Zabuza? He's dead, right?"

"No," He admitted with an emotionless mask on his face. Deciding to drop the subject, I nodded a crestfallen look on my face.

"I see. Well, we'll defeat him soon enough." I said determinedly, staggering to my feet. The dizziness had gone away, and I felt perfectly fine. I guess they had treated the poison in time.

"Kakashi-sensei said once you've recovered enough, that we're going to train," Naruto stated.

"Train," I snapped. "But Kakashi-sensei is hurt! How can he train us?" I asked, concerned. Sure, I wanted to get stronger, but not if I had to hurt my sensei—my friend—in order to.

"We don't know," Naruto said innocently. It was weird to think of him as innocent; "He didn't tell us how, he just told us that we were going to." I nodded.

"Well, I think I'm better now. I just need to eat something then I'll be ready." I announced, and shooed them from the room. I didn't know why I got a room to myself, but why complain? It was better than sharing it with four other people, right?

Excited to be, once again, training, I hurried to change clothes, check Cana's leg, which, from what I could tell, was completely healed by now, since, for one, it wasn't too badly broken, and she's still growing, along with my care. _Once I finish my training today_, I thought as I finished up my breakfast. _I'll help Cana with that one fire jutsu she's been having trouble with. _I decided, before standing up, taking whatever uneaten food that was left, and throwing out the scraps.

After I finished getting ready, I put Cana in the front of my jacket, and walked out of the room, to see everyone waiting.

"Oh," I blinked. "You didn't have to wait for me, you know." I said, slightly embarrassed. Had I really kept everyone waiting, while I took my precious time getting ready? "Sorry. Let's go." I covered, cloaking my voice in excitement. We hadn't trained too much in a while, just went on a ton of missions.

The five of us went to a field surrounded by trees, and I gazed around expectantly. What were we supposed to do here? Just then, Kakashi-sensei and Sakura launched into details about chakra. Once again, my habit appeared, and I tuned out. But that was expected, right?

"So what are we going to do?" I heard as I drifted out of my trance-like state.

"Climb a tree," Kakashi-sensei answered pointedly after a few moments of silence.

"Climb a tree?" The four of us questioned. I didn't know what we were training for, but how could climbing a tree help us? I've climbed hundreds of trees in my life time.

"That's right. But it's not ordinary tree climbing." _Not ordinary? _ "You're going to climb without using your hands."

"Eh? How do we do that?" Sasuke deadpanned. I smiled, already figuring it out in my mind. So, we were going to work on chakra control, right? We probably had to walk up the tree, using chakra.

"Just watch." Kakashi explained, making a hand sign before walking over to one of the trees, and climbing it, with only his legs, vertically. That's what I had thought. I tuned out everyone, including Kakashi-sensei and concentrated on my chakra, and making it form at my feet.

My eyes widened as a kunai landed at my feet and I looked up at Kakashi. "Use that to mark where you are able to get with your current ability." He said, and then casually walked off of the tree.

The four of us concentrated the chakra to our feet, and then each of us ran towards a tree. I choked back a laugh as, as soon as Naruto put both feet on the tree, he fell backwards. Instead, I looked back at him in amusement, and continued running up the tree. Both Sakura and Sasuke were a bit farther up than me, but no matter, I didn't mind. I watched as Sasuke started to fall, and then dug his feet into the tree, making a mark on the tree with his kunai, before flipping off backwards. As I watched, I lost sight of Sakura. Did she already fall?

"This is easier than I thought." I heard above me and to the right. I gaped as I saw her standing on a branch at the top of a tree. This of course, because of the surprise, caused me to lose my concentration. With a gasp, I quickly marked the spot on the tree, and fell backwards, Cana yelping in surprise. I landed nimbly on my feet, and took Cana from my jacket, setting her on the ground. "Sorry girl," I murmured, ignoring the others. "I forgot you were there. I'm not used to carrying around a wolf in my jacket. Stay there, be quiet, and rest. I don't want to risk hurting you if I fall and land the wrong way." I explained seeing the crestfallen look on her face. She simply nodded her head.

With a sigh, once again, I closed my eyes, concentrating my chakra to my feet. I ignored what the others were doing, and ran at the tree once again, clutching the kunai. I got farther up than before, but not as high up as Sakura did, before cutting the bark, and falling to the ground. I witnessed Sasuke and Naruto exchange competitive glares, before running at their trees once more.

It was around 12:00 am when I finally got to the highest tree branch, and Naruto and Sasuke were still struggling. Really, how much chakra did they have? Or was it just pure determination driving them on? I collapsed on the tree branch, closing my eyes and resting, trying to calm my fast beating heart. _Wait, I made a promise to someone, didn't I? Yes, yes I did. I promised to help Cana with her technique once I was done training. _But I wasn't done training, I realized. Sakura got done a long time ago, but she had just now gone back. With a groan, I rolled off of the tree branch, falling towards the ground, before turning so that when I landed, I would land on my feet.

I kept training until I literally collapsed. I had made it to higher branches each time, and I was fairly certain I had my chakra under control. No, I _was _certain. I ran out of my own chakra about two tries ago, and I had used Okuri's chakra. Not enough to give me extra power, only enough to give me some of her seemingly unquenchable stamina. With the amount of chakra lent to me, I had some more stamina, along with my senses becoming enhanced. I probably would have had more of my own chakra, had I actually rested in between attempts. "I think," I panted. "I've earned a break," I yawned, emphasizing my lack of enthusiasm.

I blanked when no one said anything, and I began stumbling back to the house.

- Just because you all probably know what happens in that last fight between Kakashi and Zabuza [if you do not, I advise you to stop reading now. May contain spoilers later on in the story], so I'm going to skip it. I will begin while they are in the Forest of Death. Thank you. –

I swallowed fiercely as I gazed upon the person before us. He wasn't _normal, _that much even _I _could tell. He just gave me the impression of death; evil; like no one else ever had. _Not even Katsuo. _It wasn't just me either, I thought, sending a glare at the caged wolf demon. Okuri was now fighting fiercely against the bars trapping her spirit inside me, snapping and clawing at the unbreakable seal. She was struggling to take over, struggling with the need to defeat the man, rid the world of threats to herself and her 'pack'. Sasuke and Sakura seemed dazed; I had no clue where Naruto had been thrown when the man arrived, but I hoped he was in a better situation than us. He was getting swallowed by a snake, as I later found out, though.

I was busy trying to hold back Okuri's raging spirit, and didn't hear any of what Sasuke and Sakura were arguing with the strangely snake like man. However, I did get to see my death flash before my eyes. Screams of agony filled my ears as I cried out, along with Sakura and Sasuke's yells and whimpers of pain; it hurt me to know that I was powerless to help them, although I knew, deep in my mind, that it was not real. Kunai were flying this way and that and blood was splattered on the grass, on trees and bushes, even on Sakura and Sasuke's motionless bodies. Even on my motionless body, although my eyes were glinting with a dull tint of scarlet as Okuri struggled to keep us both alive.

And suddenly, I was back. So were Sasuke and Sakura it seemed, although they too were shaken up badly. Sakura still had her eyes clenched shut tightly, hands in fists, shaking and kneeling over in fear. Sasuke, it seemed, was in better condition. He had managed to get to his feet and, although he was shaking slightly and his face was fearful, he managed to clutch a kunai in his hands, facing the man, who I later found out, was _Orochimaru._

For once, Okuri was silent; obviously she was shaken as well. I wanted to help soothe her, but seeing as I was no better, if not worse, I didn't attempt it. Knowing me, I would probably just manage to upset her more. I staggered to my feet, snatching my own kunai from my weapon pouch and aiming it the best I could with my blurry eyesight.

One second, I was standing on shaky legs, a kunai flying at my forehead as I tried to force myself to dodge, the next, I was flying through the air before being dropped gently onto my legs, which promptly gave out, and I landed on my knees in a sitting position, much like Sakura was.

At first glance around, I noticed that Sakura had finally calmed down enough to stop her shaking but Sasuke was now being paranoid. He kept staring around, tense, and that bothered me. Never before had I seen Sasuke this _scared._ But he had a right to be scared, I noticed, as a huge snake, a lot bigger than the three of us put together appeared, silently, lethally. Sasuke wouldn't even have noticed if Sakura had not panicked and shook him from his panic-driven trance.

It didn't take long, Orochimaru had appeared _out of the giant snake's mouth_, and I was sure we were all going to get killed, until Naruto appeared. Of course, now Sasuke felt they would _all_ die if he didn't hand over the scroll. _Our_ scroll; the scroll we needed to become chuunin. I, of course, pleaded against it. But there was nothing I could do, unless I wanted to risk hurting Sasuke. At the sight of Orochimaru, Okuri had immediately begun to plead for me to let her take control so she could eliminate him. If I moved towards Sasuke, towards Orochimaru, I was sure I would lose it. Or, something like that, at least. I watched, body and mind tense as I tried to keep myself calm, under control. I couldn't think if I was out of control, going on a rampage. That would only make things worse.

_'No,' I_ told a furious demon spirit firmly. _'It would only make everything worse. I won't allow you to hurt Sasuke, Naruto or even Sakura.' _I refused Okuri's demand, much to the demon's displeasure. I came back from the depths of my mind to see Sasuke throwing the snake-like-man, Orochimaru, our scroll. I tensed, ready to leap forward to snatch the scroll away from the man, but Naruto was much quicker. Before I could even move, he had already grabbed the scroll right before Orochimaru grabbed it and landed safely a few feet away from Sasuke.

Sasuke, it was plain to see, was furious. He didn't want to die. But so was Naruto. He must have seen this like a mission, I did at least. On a mission, you're supposed to risk your life to finish it, not willingly give away what you're protecting. Naruto knew that, and I was glad. Naruto, his eyes shadowed, turned and flung his fist right into Sasuke's face, making him cough blood up and nearly fall off of the tree branch the three of them were on [Orochimaru included]. Luckily, he twisted around and caught himself gracefully on a second branch.

I watched as the two yelled, Naruto breathing heavily. I watched, struck with horror, as Naruto ran towards the raven-haired, snake-like person, kunai out, anger flashing in his gaze. "Don't mess with me!" He howled. But his confidence didn't last too long as he was thrown back with a gust of… air; chakra; _what_?

It explained itself soon, though, as a snake appeared, the pale man standing on its scaly head. I gasped as Sakura screamed, "_Naruto_!" just as the snake lunged towards the blond-haired jinchuuriki. Naruto dodged the attack and splinters of wood flew everywhere as the snake's head rammed into a tree, causing it to break into millions of pieces. I was thankful, I really was, that Naruto hadn't been hurt that time. But surely he could tell how powerful that thing was? Why did he keep going back? I watched in sheer surprise as several more trees were destroyed until Naruto took it upon himself to destroy the snake. He threw several punches at the snake and even I was surprised that by the sheer force of the hits. Finally the snake got mad. But so was Naruto; he looked like an animal himself, a fox maybe, as he leaped into the air, teeth clenched. It only took me moments for me to register that his eyes were scarlet.

_It's Kyuubi._ I heard Okuri's voice echo softly in my mind.

_ 'So, what? What's wrong with that? Can you tell if we are in any danger being here while Naruto doesn't have full control over him?' _I asked her cautiously. She was a demon too; she should be able to tell, if only just a little bit.

'_No, we're in no danger right now. Kyuubi just wants to get rid of his enemy. He's just helping your friend.' _Okuri explained easily, obviously relaxing a was obviously glad she wasn't relying on a human now.

But after a while, Orochimaru seemed to tire of his antics. She made a jutsu, a fire jutsu and he was sent back, flying through tree branches before finally landing with a loud crack. I was sure he had broken something, or at least had a serious injury. I wanted to help him, but now since Kyuubi had been taken down, Okuri was in panic once again. I couldn't move towards Naruto without moving towards Orochimaru, and I couldn't risk hurting anybody any more than they already were hurt.

"You're next, _Sasuke-kun." _He hissed and immediately, the snake began flying towards him, Orochimaru still standing on his head. I gasped. Even Sasuke couldn't dodge _that _speed. "How will you fight?" Orochimaru seemed to enjoy the fear.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura cried.

"Sasuke, move out of the way, he's going to kill you!" I yelled. Of course, it was too late now. _Sasuke, don't die!_ I thought. If only I'd known. Before the snake could reach Sasuke, Naruto had stopped the snake; kunai plunged deep into the snake, holding it back. When he looked up, I saw that this was the Kyuubi's doing. His eyes were scarlet again and some of his teeth had turned to fangs. I was amazed, but then fear over-powered me once again as _Orochimaru's tongue _caught Naruto and hauled him into the air. What was with all of these emotion changes? As much as he struggled, he couldn't escape, even as Orochimaru drew him closer.

"I'm surprised that the Nine-Tails kid is still alive." Orochimaru said, although he didn't look surprised, at all. He said something else, but it was too low for me to hear, or maybe, I just may not have been listening close enough. He formed a jutsu and what looked like purple flames appeared on each of his fingers. He lifted the bottom of Naruto's shirt up, and said, "See? Your seal surfaced." He paused, drawing his left hand back, before saying the jutsu, "Five Element Seal!" Okay, so I was wrong, in a way. It was a seal, not a jutsu, not that it mattered. Orochimaru's hand flew forward, catching Naruto on the stomach, right on the seal. Naruto howled in pain, writhing in Orochimaru's grasp. But that wasn't for long; everything went silent to my ears as Naruto went limp.

_'Okuri..?'_ I asked, letting myself disappear into the depths of my mind, to the familiar place where the seal locked Okuri. A huge, shadowy white wolf with blood-red eyes was locked behind the bars.

_Akki. _A soft voice answered and the white wolf approached the bars. I already knew where the voice had come from; Okuri. The voice was so sweet, caring, nothing of how a demon should sound.

'_What did Orochimaru do to Naruto? Will he be alright? Will Kyuubi be alright?' _I asked the white wolf. Okuri was just like me, misunderstood. We were friends, somehow or another. We used to despise each other, but we had been brought together and we realized that we were the same. We bonded, and somehow, even if Okuri did annoy me sometimes, I loved her as a best-friend, as family.

_He'll be fine. They both will. It was a seal; he probably just passed out from the pain or something. The seal Orochimaru put on him was just to make sure that Kyuubi wasn't going to escape. Orochimaru was afraid. _The white wolf came up and sat beside the bars, peering out at me. I felt sorry for her, but I knew that if I took off the seal, I would die. Our chakra had already mixed, it was too late now. And it would be useless anyways; Okuri would just be captured again and sealed in some person's body that cared only for themselves.

_'Thank you, Okuri.' _

The white she-wolf nodded, and warned, _you've been here with me for a day or so. So don't be alarmed when you wake up and find that you're not where you were. _

I nodded to her form as she gradually faded. That had happened a few times, now I was used to it. I opened my eyes to see Sakura leaning over the three of us, Naruto, Sasuke and I. She looked half-asleep. I felt bad for her.

"Akki," She exclaimed, her eyes snapping open as I sat up slowly. "You're okay! I wasn't sure what happened to you. One second you were fine, the next you were collapsed on the ground, passed out. Are you in pain?"

"Mmm," I mumbled. Of course I wasn't in pain. "No, I'm fine. You know about Okuri, right? That she's sealed in me? I was talking to her. I wasn't aware that I had been with her for so long." I told the truth. At the shocked look on her face, I quickly added, "I'm fine. It was my choice to talk to her. She's my friend, practically family. She didn't hurt me." I sputtered.

She nodded, still surprised, but she seemed relieved that I was okay. "Hey, Sakura, how long was I out?" I asked.

"A day; Naruto and Sasuke still haven't woken up though." She was stressed again. Wonderful.

"Oh. You get some sleep. I'll keep watch for now." At the calculating look on her face, I went on, "It's fine. I'm fine. Get some sleep or you won't be any help at all. I promise I'll wake you if Naruto or Sasuke wake up." I tell her. She really did look tired.

"Mmm, yeah. Thanks, Akki," She yawned, letting herself slump down, closing her eyes again.

I sighed in boredom, glancing at the boys before letting her eyes drift out of the entrance to the make-shift den. I quickly formed a small jutsu, biting my own thumb until blood spilled from it to do so. Three wolves seemed to poof out of nowhere and from behind them, you could just make out the black fur of the fourth. The wolves looked up at her expectantly after looking around the Forest of Death.

After explaining everything to them, she sat back leaning against a tree, eyes peering towards the entrance. But she got bored of that soon and she looked over at the alert wolves. The four of them were lounging around, staring out of the den, completely relaxed. Well all of them except for Koda, the Captain of the group [Group 1]. There were 5 groups of summoning wolves, Groups 1 through 5. Each group had a captain, a general and at least 1 other wolf, usually more. They were sometimes called Pack 1 through 5 as well.

Koda was the biggest of them as well, with different shades of black and grey fur and silvery-grey eyes. He was strong-willed and never let his mind drift from the job at hand. He was brave and trustworthy; hot-headed and loyal; defiant and protective; and he knew when to keep quiet—that's how he became to be the Captain or Alpha of Pack One. He was pacing restlessly, eyes flickering and body tense, ready for battle.

Kurt was Koda's twin brother, although all of them were related. Kurt was the General, or Beta of Pack One. He was glossy white with a necklace of black fur circling his neck. His paws were coal black, along with the tip of his long tail. He always wears a bright, blood red forehead protector sporting the Konoha leaf to keep the fur out of his bright blue eyes. And while Koda was larger and bulkier, Kurt was thin with a lithe body and long legs, making him the fastest of the pack. Kurt was a lot different from Koda, both personality and appearance-wise. While his brother was always tense and battle-ready, Kurt preferred to be laid-back and calm. He was trustworthy and protective, like his brother; he was loud, hot-headed, free-spirited, strong-willed and often acted like a pup. But when it came to important situations, he always knew what to do. That's how _he _became the general or beta, in wolf terms, and that's also how he became worthy to be Cana's mentor. Kurt was lounging right inside the entrance, peering out into the darkening day with lazy eyes.

Next was Convel, the wolf no one could hesitate to rely on, even if he was quiet, dark and mysterious. No one could help but trust him. Convel preferred to stay hidden in the shadows, ready to strike at any given moment instead of barging in and making a big scene. If you hurt one of his pack-mates, he wouldn't hesitate to _kill you. _When he became your friend, you could always rely on him and he would protect you with his life. Convel was thin but had rolling muscles under his dark black mane of fur. Convel's fur was littered with specks of white and he had intense golden eyes that no one could object to. Convel was sitting closer to me, although his back was turned to me and he had a clear view of the entrance.

Lastly, there was Cana, the youngest of Pack One. Her inky black fur shone brightly even in the evening light and she was lounging across her mentor, Kurt, her black fur standing out against Kurt's snowy pelt. Her blue eyes were bright, staring out the entrance, but half-lidded. Cana had to be my favorite, maybe because she was the smallest or even because she was the only girl, but that didn't matter. She was only about a third of the size of Kurt and the others, but she definitely had the personality and attitude to make up for that. The rest of the pack protected her fiercely, deciding that she couldn't take care of herself, no matter how many times I or anyone else told them she had to learn sometime. And Cana wasn't too fond of constantly having her pack mates hovering around her. She was just like her mentor; strong-willed, hot-headed, free-spirited, loyal and she always tried to look on the bright side of things.

Cana looked back at me to see my staring at her and she crawled over to me, laying her small body across my lap after licking my face in a very puppy-like way. We all stayed like that for a while, me stroking Cana's fur absentmindedly as I watched Naruto and Sasuke for Sakura when suddenly Kurt scrambled to his paws, snarling, the other wolfs quickly following his lead, including Cana, who had leaped out of my lap and landed on Kurt, her front paws on his head.

"Wha-?" I gasped, scrambling to my own feet quickly grabbing a kunai and standing protectively in front of Sasuke and the others.


End file.
